Ever since training camp last year, the San Francisco 49ers have been hit with one injury to a key player after another. They haven’t gotten any type of respite from the injury bug, and it resulted in them going 6-11 and missing the playoffs last season after coming off a narrow loss in Super Bowl LVIII.
On Sunday, they finally got starting quarterback Brock Purdy back after he had missed their last six games and eight in total because of a toe injury. He played excellent football, completing 19 of 26 pass attempts and throwing three touchdown passes and no interceptions in a 41-22 win.
Alas, the 49ers lost more players due to injury in that game, including starting kicker Eddy Piñeiro, who sustained a hamstring injury. He could miss some time as a result, per ESPN.
“After finally finding some much-needed consistency, the San Francisco 49ers’ kicking situation is back in flux,” wrote Nick Wagoner.
“Niners coach Kyle Shanahan announced Monday that veteran kicker Eddy Piñeiro suffered a Grade 1 strain in his right (kicking) hamstring in Sunday’s win against the Arizona Cardinals. Piñeiro, according to Shanahan, will be week-to-week and is likely to miss some time.
“That means the 49ers will once again have to go to the free agent market this week in search of help at a position that Piñeiro had finally stabilized after signing in Week 2.”
Piñeiro came on board prior to Week 2 after the Niners released the wildly inconsistent Jake Moody, who had been their starting kicker dating back to the beginning of the 2023 season. He has been very reliable, at least for the most part, as he has made all 22 of his field-goal attempts this season, including six from at least 50 yards out. He has, however, missed four of his 22 extra point tries, and he was unsuccessful on two such attempts versus Arizona.
He had played five previous seasons in the NFL with the Chicago Bears, New York Jets and Carolina Panthers after he went undrafted out of the University of Florida.
The 30-year-old suffered his injury late in the third quarter of Sunday’s contest after converting on an extra-point kick. In case he has to miss next Monday’s game against the Panthers, San Francisco will hold tryouts for a replacement kicker a little later this week.
Read more: 49ers' Kyle Shanahan Reveals Mac Jones' True Feelings on Losing Starting Job
The 49ers have been decimated by injury on defense, where star defensive end Nick Bosa, a former Defensive Player of the Year, and four-time All-Pro middle linebacker Fred Warner are out for the season with ACL and ankle ailments, respectively. Now, Tatum Bethune, Warner’s replacement, will miss a few weeks after suffering a high ankle sprain on Sunday.
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