49ers K Jake Moody is out after suffering an ankle injury during kickoff, replaced by P Mitch Wishnowsky

The San Francisco 49ers’ game plan was thrown into disarray on Sunday when kicker Jake Moody suffered a right ankle injury on a second-quarter kickoff against the Arizona Cardinals. Punter Mitch Wishnowsky took over kicking duties after Moody was ruled out.

Wishnowsky, who was 0-1 on field goal attempts and 2-4 PATs early in his career, hit a 26-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter to give the 49ers a 23-10 lead.

Wishnowsky’s duty as defending champion fell on the broad shoulders of fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who was also seen warming up his leg and shooting balls into a net on the sideline after Moody’s injury.

All right, buddy! Mitch Wishnowsky’s first career FG 🙌

📺 #AZvsSF on FOX
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4nCVJ pic.twitter.com/gsk60LBQMU

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) October 6, 2024

Moody, who made 13 of 14 field goal attempts this season, was injured trying to stop kick returner DeeJay Dallas’ 39-yard return.

Moody’s injury came shortly after a rare special teams triumph for the 49ers – a blocked field goal that Deommodore Lenoir returned for a 61-yard touchdown. Maybe it was more luck than anything else. Defensive tackle Jordan Elliott raised his right hand at just the right moment and parried Chad Ryland’s 45-yard attempt.

Most special teams have been disastrous for the 49ers this season, with a blocked punt, a fake punt, a resulting punt return and a botched kickoff happening against them in the last three games. The Moody’s breach adds to this list of problems.

#49ers Kicker Jake Moody was able to leave the field alone after apparently suffering an injury in the previous game 🙏 pic.twitter.com/cpPgW1NRU2

– FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 6, 2024

The dynamic kickoff made its debut this season. The new kick-off is designed to revive excitement in the second leg while reducing the risk of injury through fewer high-speed collisions and touchbacks.

On the new kickoff, 10 players from the kicking team (all except the kicker) line up at the opponent’s 40-yard line, while on the return, at least nine players line up between the 30 and 35 yard lines – seven of them the players must touch the 35 yard line. The kicker kicking from his team’s 35-yard line and the two returners are the only players allowed to move until a returner touches the ball or the ball hits the ground in the “landing zone.”

This area of ​​the field is considered the receiving team’s goal line and 20 yard line. Every kick that lands there must be returned. If the ball touches down in the landing zone and rolls into the end zone, the receiving team must either return it or drop the ball for a touchback.

One of the risks of the dynamic kickoff is that kickers become more involved in tackles, as what happened to Moody on Sunday shows. Some teams had experimented with using non-kickers on kickoffs to avoid danger.

Go deeper

What are the new NFL kickoff rules and how do they work?

(Photo: Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)