49ers News: Kyle Shanahan says Jake Moody has an upper ankle sprain

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan provided an injury update after the game. Safety Talanoa Hufanga suffered a wrist injury that forced him to miss most of the game. Hufanga did not return.

The player who took over for Hufanga after he tore his ACL in the second half of last season, Ji'Ayir Brown, was briefly sidelined with an ankle injury. Brown was healthy enough to return.

The big injury news comes from the kicker. Jake Moody limped off the field and was carted to the locker room after tackling the kickoff team. He immediately went down and grabbed his right ankle.

When questioned further, Shanahan called it an ankle injury and stated that Moody had a sprained upper ankle. When asked if Moody suffered any broken bones or fractures, Shanahan replied, “I was just told he had a high ankle.”

Kyle believes Moody's injury is part of the game:

“The same as everyone else. You try to tackle. You don't tell guys to keep their ankle out of it. You hope it doesn't happen to him so he doesn't have to make a tackle. But you don't tell guys to turn it down and let him score. It’s just part of football.”

The 49ers need to sign a kicker. Shanahan said, “We're going to get one as quickly as possible and sign the best guy we can.” I'm sure it will take a few weeks. I’m not sure, but it’s high ankle and that’s never going to happen anytime soon.”

It goes without saying that not having a kicker will impact your approach as a play-caller. Shanahan said, “The biggest thing was those turnovers. The choice for the start of the second half. Then that fumble down there inside the 10. I don't know how that would have played out later because I think that was the first down.”

He's referring to Jordan Mason's fumble in the red zone with the 49ers leading 23-21 and a chance to make it a two-possession game. It was actually 1st-and-goal from the 8-yard line.

Shanahan said the 49ers were trying to get to the 15-yard line and “trying to turn it into an extra point for Mitch Wishnowsky.” But a deflected pass led to a game-winning interception.

For the second straight division game, the 49ers blew a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. Shanahan was asked about his level of frustration:

“Extremely frustrated. I think we had 13 points and 17 in the other. We can't reveal that under any circumstances. In my opinion, sales will always occur. There are other things you can do to overcome them. We talked last night about how turnovers would be key in this game. That's exactly what the first half was. It gave us a huge advantage and everything turned around in the second half. If you can do that, it’s hard to win.”

Red zone issues continue to plague the offense. Shanahan said, “When you're fighting for extra yards, you just have to be smart with the ball.” He also said, “We got a lot worse today” after starting at center in Week 5.