LATEST Oct. 11, 2:30 p.m. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Friday that an MRI on kicker Matthew Wright was negative and that he's expected to kick against the Chiefs on Oct. 20. Wright left Thursday's game against the Seahawks with just over a minute to go after appearing to hurt himself making a tackle.
Oct. 11, 9:35 a.m. For the second time in five days, the San Francisco 49ers saw their kicker get hurt trying to make a tackle on kickoff coverage.
Freshly signed kicker Matthew Wright's last play in Thursday's 36-24 win for the Niners may end up being costly, as he hurt his shoulder making a tackle on Seahawks returner Dee Williams near midfield with just over a minute left in the game.
Wright was in immediate and noticeable discomfort when he got up from making the tackle, with the Amazon Prime broadcast showing a team doctor tending to him a few plays after the hit. Just before the final play of the game, the broadcast showed Wright walking back to the locker room, clearly protecting his left arm as he walked.
"Oh boy, there goes Matthew Wright," Amazon play-by-play broadcaster Al Michaels said as Wright was shown walking off. "Thinking, 'What was I doing, getting involved in the tackle? Why?'"
Wright was signed just three days ago, on Tuesday, after the 49ers lost their primary kicker Jake Moody to an ankle injury on an nearly identical play. When Moody made a tackle in the first half of Sunday's loss to the Cardinals, he got his ankle caught underneath his leg in the process, leading to a high ankle sprain that is expected to sideline him for at least a few weeks.
The back-to-back injuries have clearly shaken 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, who responded to a somewhat sarcastic question about challenging his kickers to make tackles with a forceful rebuke - and even pondering a shift in approach for his kickers if the opponent is making a big kickoff return.
"Hell no. I don't. I don't know how I feel about that anymore," Shanahan said. "When they break through and they're the only line left, I would never be the coach that says, 'Just let them score.' But dang, that's two weeks in a row. ... That was huge for him to stop them - I mean, it looked like they could have scored if he wasn't there. So I just hope he's alright."
Shanahan, Michaels and analyst Kirk Herbstreit heaped praise on Wright for his 6-for-6 kicking on the night (three field goals, three extra points), with Shanahan saying he was "unbelievable."
As of Friday morning, the severity of Wright's injury is unclear. But no matter the diagnosis, a feeling of deja vu is surely permeating the 49ers.
