49ers kicker Jake Moody ready for regular-season home debut on new grass field

SANTA CLARA — It turns out Jake Moody wasn’t nearly as nervous at attempting a 57-yard field as he was taking practice kicks during the week.

To Moody, being entrusted with the responsibility of dialing long distance in a 30-23 win by the 49ers over the Los Angeles Rams, was nothing like his days at Michigan under the watchful eye of coach Jim Harbaugh.

It’s a concept Moody concedes makes “zero sense” although his explanation helps in understanding the mind of a kicker.

“At practices, I’d have coach Harbaugh standing directly next to me,” Moody said Tuesday. “I could feel him breathing on me almost. When you’re out there during a game, you don’t really notice the crowd, or the coach on the sidelines.

“It’s just you, the snapper, the holder and the guys protecting you. I feel a little bit more calm out there rather than having coaches breathing down your back.”

Moody, 23, has recovered nicely from a rocky preseason where wasn’t hitting the ball squarely and had the fan base wondering if jettisoning reliable 40-year-old Robbie Gould was the smart move for a team that could be a kick away from a championship.

The 49ers are 2-0 and Moody is tied for second in the NFL with 24 points. He is 6-for-6 on field goal attempts and 6-for-6 on extra point tries. He also scored major points with coach Kyle Shanahan when kicking the 57-yarder with 1:21 to play in the third quarter against the Rams to put the 49ers up 20-17.

With Brock Purdy missing a deep pass to Deebo Samuel from the Rams’ 39 on third-and-7, Shanahan could either give Moody a shot at the long field goal or have punter Mitch Wishnowsky attempt to pin the Rams inside the 10.

If Moody missed, the Rams would have started their possession at their own 47 in a 17-17 game.

Shanahan sent out Moody, who converted the longest field goal attempt by a 49er since David Akers hit a franchise record 63-yarder in 2012. In six seasons with the 49ers, Gould’s longest converted field goal was 54 yards.

“It was really cool that he trusts me, especially being a rookie, in a situation like that, to go out and make the kick and not give them the ball near midfield,” Moody said.

Moody also had field goals of 26 and 27 yards after going 3-for-3 against Pittsburgh in the road opener. There’s a different challenge Thursday night when the 49ers play their home opener on a new grass field that was rolled out following an Ed Sheeran concert at Levi’s Stadium.

The footing will be a mystery until Moody, holder Wishnowsky and snapper Taybor Pepper take the field in warmups.

Moody doesn’t appear outwardly concerned.

“I guess we’ll see how the grass is Thursday night,” Moody said.

While showing a strong, accurate leg during training camp practices, Moody had his mettle tested during the preseason. he missed wide left from 40 yards and wide right from 58 in the preseason against the Raiders in Las Vegas.

In the second preseason game, Moody converted attempts of 20, 43 and 32 yards against the Broncos. But he also pushed an extra point attempt to the right and the 32-yarder that won the game was also pushed to the right and likely wouldn’t have been good if a few yards farther back.

A strained right quadriceps kept Moody out of the preseason finale against the Los Angeles Chargers.

How strong is Moody’s leg? He said he didn’t hit the 57-yard attempt all that cleanly.

“I didn’t hit it square, but I hit it well enough,” Moody said. “I didn’t get all of it, but I got enough that it went in. We figure that kind of stuff out in warmups, because I’m not going to hit the ball perfect every single time. I’m shooting for that, but it’s just not going to happen.”

Shanahan admits he’s not big on the science of kicking, but the early misses as well as Moody’s recovery from the quadriceps injury to play against Pittsburgh have made an impression.

“It’s been impressive just getting to know the guy,” Shanahan said. “He handled himself extremely well as soon as he got here. That rough patch, it kind of came out of nowhere because practice wasn’t like that. To watch him go through that, then watch him go through the injury, it was impressive to get himself ready for these two games and he’s done a hell of a job in both of them.”

Moody did have one mistake in Los Angeles, kicking the ball out of bounds on the kickoff following his 27-yard field goal. That set the Rams up at the 40, and they drove 60 yards for a touchdown.

“It bugged me a lot, but it was a little bit of a footing issue,” Moody said. “There was nothing I could do to change it. Just move on, be conscious of not slipping and move forward from there.”