SANTA CLARA – David Akers missed two more field goals on Sunday. He has missed 13 field goals this season, worst in the NFL. This afternoon, Jim Harbaugh was asked if the 49ers will cut Akers before the first playoff game. Here’s what Harbaugh said.
Q: What is the status of David Akers?
HARBAUGH: He’s still our kicker. We’ll evaluate what we think is the best plan for moving forward and our next game.
Q: Will you bring some kickers in to try out?
HARBAUGH: Yeah, we’ll probably bring a few in and have some tryouts, some competition.
Q: Is that a decision you want to make quickly?
HARBAUGH: We want to make the right decision. David is certainly in it. He’s done a lot of great things for us – made a lot of great kicks, big kicks. And he knows it. We know it. Those kicks in the games, you’ve got to make those kicks. There will always be a level of competition around any position to find who gives you the best chance to win the next game. Knowing the competitor that David is, I don’t think he’ll have a problem with that.
Q: Are you surprised that he hasn’t been able to snap out of this slump?
HARBAUGH: Kickers go through slumps at times. You’ve seen they’ll go through it and they’ll come out of it quickly, sometimes it lingers a little bit. But, have I been surprised that he hasn’t made those kicks? We understand that’s the job of the kicker, to put the ball through the uprights. But we also understand the difficult nature of the job as well.
Q: Will he be involved in the competition? Are you allowed to have him out there competing against the guys you bring in?
HARBAUGH: No.
Q: What can he do to keep that job right now?
HARBAUGH: If we had two on the roster at the same time, they could kick in practice. That’s an option. I think there are three options: We go forward with David, we bring in a new kicker or we go with two and let them compete for the job. We’ll make that decision as we go.
