Where 49ers stand with Moody for 2025 after ‘honest discussions' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
INDIANAPOLIS — The 49ers brass still has confidence in Jake Moody after a challenging 2024 NFL season.
General manager John Lynch spoke to local Bay Area media while at the NFL Scouting Combine and spoke about the kicker, who, after a high ankle sprain, missed nine field goal attempts and one extra point.
Prior to the injury that occurred in Week 5, Moody had only missed one field goal attempt and was a perfect 100 in points after touchdowns.
“We’ve had really honest discussions with Jake, and I know that’s a hot button,” Lynch said. “We still have a lot of belief in him. We believe that the injury had a lot to do with all that. [We] maybe kick ourselves for letting him come back.
“I think even his mechanics, if your mechanics get off — seeing what happened.”
Moody returned in Week 10 and shared that he still was feeling the injury in his kicking foot but didn’t believe it was affecting his kicks. Lynch shared that the team consulted soccer teams about how they could help their kicker work through the injury. Bringing in competition could be an additional option.
“We’ve had honest discussions, [and] that may be a route we go,” Lynch said. “Someone else to insulate us. But like I said, we have belief that he will rise to the top, so that’s something to keep tabs on if we do decide to bring someone in. We’re very hopeful that Jake, what we had envisioned for him, is still very possible.”
The frustration with Moody’s inaccuracies came to a boiling point in Week 10 when the second-year kicker missed three field goals in his first game back after the injury. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel approached Moody near the bench area for a heated one-way exchange.
“I think it was very visible for everyone,” Lynch said. “Emotions happen on the sideline, but I would tell you by and large, even with Deebo, especially with Deebo in fact, that actually drew them closer.
“There was a lot of confidence in belief, and it was frustrating. There’s a lot of belief in that kid, so we’re hopeful people. I know people don’t like to hear that for whatever reason, because most of them, they want to win and they saw it wasn’t going very well. But we we have a lot of belief that he’s going come on.”
At the end of the season, Moody shared that his confidence was at the lowest level since he started playing football, which is concerning. Without saying his name, Lynch shared that retired All-Pro kicker Jason Elam reached out to share his thoughts on Moody’s struggles.
Lynch and Elam were teammates when they were both members of the Denver Broncos from 2004-2007, and the retired kicker is in the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, and his cleats remain on display in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“I played with a Hall of Fame kicker in Denver, and we were in one of those games that he missed,” Lynch recalled. “It was just out of the blue, I haven’t talked to him in five years. He texted me and he said, ‘This guy is a talented dude, and he’s got a real good swing.’
” ‘He’s going to make a lot more than he’s going to miss. You know he’s in this in his head right now, so help him through.’ “
Lynch intimated that he put the decorated kicker in touch with Moody as a resource going forward in an effort to bolster the Michigan product’s confidence heading into 2025.
