Bouncing from 49ers to Bears 'all part of the journey' for kicker Jake Moody, a former 3rd-round pick

Practice-squad signings rarely catch anyone’s attention, but when it comes to the Bears and kickers, everything’s a big deal.

Shortly after Cairo Santos missed a 50-yard field goal and was short on a kickoff in the opener against the Vikings, the Bears added former third-round pick Jake Moody to their practice squad last week.

Moody was in his third season with the 49ers when they cut him after missing two field goals under 40 yards in their opener. He has made 74.2% of his field goals and 97.9% of his extra points in his career and struggled through a sprained ankle last season.

“I don’t know if I can pinpoint anything specifically — just didn’t work out,” Moody told the Sun-Times. “I’ve got to move on. It’s a little adversity, but that stuff makes you stronger, and it’s good to learn from stuff like that. It sucks that it happened, but everybody faces it at some point.”

Moody said it’s been helpful already to work with Santos in addition to special teams coordinator Richard Hightower and private kicking coach Brandon Kornblue.

“It’s all part of the journey," Moody said. "Some guys kick for the same team for 15 years, and some guys kick for 20 different teams.”