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USA Today

When the 49ers decided to let veteran kicker Robbie Gould walk away in free agency this offseason, they had a two-tiered plan to replace him. Not only did they draft former Michigan kicker Jake Moody with a third-round pick, but they also made a trade for Zane Gonzalez. 

With two kickers on the roster, the 49ers seemed to be in pretty good shape heading into Week 1, but after a disastrous week that saw both kickers get injured, the team is in a spot where it might need to bring someone else in to start the season. 

The injuries started piling up on Wednesday when Moody strained his quad in practice. The injury isn't believed to be severe, but it was bad enough to keep the rookie out of San Francisco's preseason finale on Friday night. Following the team's 23-12 loss to the Chargers, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan didn't sound so sure that Moody would be ready for the San Francisco's opener against the Steelers. 

"That's week-to-week right now," Shanahan said of Moody's injury. "We're hoping that he can have a chance for Week 1. He ended up straining his quad last week in practice. We'll see how his body reacts to it." 

If Moody didn't get injured, he would have been the Week 1 kicker, but after he went down, Gonzalez was the next man up. However, his status is now in doubt after the veteran suffered a calf injury on Friday, just before the 49ers played the Chargers. 

With Gonzalez out, Shanahan was asked if the team will be looking to bring in another kicker for the Week 1 game in Pittsburgh. 

"We most likely have to," Shanahan said. "We definitely got to have a plan B for Week 1. Zane could have been that, but he's probably not going to be ready for Week 1 looking at what happened to him [Friday]."  

The 49ers kicking situation has taken multiple twists and turns this offseason starting with the exit of Gould, who is the most accurate field goal kicker in NFL playoff history. The 40-year-old had been the team's starter for the past six seasons, however, the 49ers decided not to bring him back this year despite the fact that he wanted to return. 

With Gould out, the 49ers made a trade for Gonzalez in late March. The team followed that up in April by making Moody the 99th overall pick in the NFL Draft, which was a mild surprise, because it made him one of only two placekickers over the past 15 years to be taken with a top 100 pick (Roberto Aguayo was the other). 

Although Moody will almost certainly be the starting kicker once he's healthy, he hasn't exactly instilled a lot of confidence in his abilities. In two preseason games this year, he went just 3 of 5 on field goals and 1 of 2 on extra points. One of his misses came from 58 yards, so it wasn't that bad, but the other one game from 40. Moody did hit a 32-yard game-winner against the Broncos in the 49ers' 21-20 win over Denver in Week 2 of the preseason, but even that kick came with some drama. 

Despite Moody's struggles, the 49ers made it clear that they weren't going to bring in any new kickers during training camp, but now, they're going to have to look around due to the injury situation. 

Shanahan was asked about a possible reunion with Gould and he didn't rule that out. 

"I'm sure everyone's a possibility, but that's stuff we haven't discussed yet," Shanahan said. 

Besides Gould, the 49ers could look to bring in a veteran like Mason Crosby, Ryan Succop or Randy Bullock. The 49ers could also turn to a kicker who recently got cut like Rodrigo Blankenship, Elliott Fry or Tristan Vizcaino. San Francisco could also wait until cut day and see if there are any unexpected cuts around the league.

Signing Gould, a former All-Pro kicker, would seem to make the most sense, but he'd have to be open to the idea of only playing for one or two weeks since the 49ers seem intent on making Moody their kicker once he's healthy.