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The San Francisco 49ers are expected to elevate recently signed kicker Matt Gay from the practice squad for Monday night’s matchup against the Carolina Panthers. Regular kicker Eddy Piñeiro will be sidelined after suffering a hamstring injury last week against the Arizona Cardinals.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan expressed confidence in Gay and doesn’t anticipate significant changes to his overall play-calling approach. Still, there are a lot of in-game factors to consider when you have a kicker with whom you aren’t as familiar.
“It’ll change when I ask Brant [Boyer], our special teams coach, exactly what yard line he feels comfortable with,” Shanahan recently told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco.
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That conversation won’t take place until Monday, once Gay tests the field conditions at Levi’s Stadium ahead of kickoff. Wind and other environmental factors will play a key role in determining his kicking range.
“He’ll give me that direction both ways,” Shanahan said. “‘That’ll be where he’s comfortable.’ And then, I’ll ask him, ‘What if we have to do it?’ And then he’ll give me that number. And then, I’ll say, ‘What if my other choice is a Hail Mary?’ And then, he’ll probably give me one more yard after that.
“And then I’ll base all that about going for it right there. But that kind of changes it with maybe distance that he might tell me. That may be different than Eddy’s, so I’ve got to decide on punting or going for it in those situations—or how confident I am that he will make a long one. So, that’s the only thing that’ll affect it.”
Piñeiro may not return until after the bye week, giving Gay a valuable NFL audition. The veteran kicker was preparing for his own bye week when Washington informed him of his release. He was en route home when the 49ers reached out.
“It kind of was abrupt. I didn’t really see it coming,” Gay said this week. “But again, it’s just one of those things that I’m grateful for, blessed to have an opportunity to just continue to kick, wherever that may be.”
The San Francisco 49ers worked out five kickers this week as they searched for a temporary replacement for Eddy Piñeiro ahead of their Week 12 matchup against the Carolina Panthers.
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