49ers to activate kicker-off practice squad as Wright heads to IR originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The 49ers will get a third kicker in three weeks when they host the Kansas City Chiefs at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.
Kicker Matthew Wright has been ruled out of the Super Bowl LVIII rematch and will be placed on injured reserve due to a shoulder injury he suffered in the 49ers’ Week 6 win over the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field, coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters Friday.
Kicker Anders Carlson will be activated from the practice squad ahead of Sunday’s game.
Wright, like second-year kicker Jake Moody, was injured while trying to make a tackle on a kickoff.
“He’s hurt worse than we expected,” Shanahan said of Wright. “So he can’t go back. And Jake Moody is still suffering from a high ankle sprain week after week, so don’t expect him next week either, but hopefully after the bye.”
The 49ers host the Dallas Cowboys on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” on Oct. 27 before heading into their Week 9 bye. San Francisco returns to action on November 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, giving Moody additional time to allow his ankle injury suffered in Week 5 to heal.
As for Carlson, who played in 17 games for the Green Bay Packers last season, he won’t be told he can’t attempt to tackle kickoffs.
‘It is certainly allowed [tackle] but only in an emergency, so I hope he doesn’t attack anything,” Shanahan told reporters. “But if it’s your choice to just give up a touchdown or not, we will always choose not to give up the touchdown. But hopefully he can stay out of the danger zone.”
If Carlson, who made 27 of his 33 field goal attempts for the Packers last season, can avoid injury, the 49ers won’t have to use a fourth different kicker against the Cowboys.
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