David Akers injury update: 49ers kicker dealing with complications from sports hernia surgery

The 49ers wrapped up their first practice of the bye week and had player availability for the media. David Akers and Billy Cundiff began their competition, and in the post-game media session, Akers had an interesting revelation:

#49ers David Akers revealed he had double sports hernia surgery in Feb. Been dealing with complications in latter part of season.

— Eric Branch (@Eric_Branch) January 4, 2013

I don't know a lot about sports medicine, but complications from any kind of surgery can't be good. Earlier this season there were some comments about Akers dealing with a pelvis injury. My guess is that this is related, but as with many 49ers injuries, we won't know for certain any time soon.

What I wonder in light of this news is really how this has affected him mentally. According to beat writer tweets this past Sunday, Akers was getting visibly frustrated with his misses. That's obviously not shocking, but the misses also are not a new thing. Akers' performance has gotten worse in recent weeks, but he has been very inconsistent all season long.

It sounds like day one of the competition went to Cundiff:

Akers looked hesitant, Cundiff was pretty much spot on. Cundiff was more accurate, more powerful in time open to media.

— Kyle Bonagura (@KyleBonagura) January 3, 2013

Practice is just a little bit different than coming in during a playoff game, so I don't think any of us will be getting ahead of ourselves any time soon. At the same time, given this injury revelation, I suspect Billy Cundiff will likely claim the job heading into next week.

Fooch's Update: Mindi Bach added something extra:

#49ers kicker David Akers had off season surgery for double sports hernia: rehabbed & felt great until slip'd after Saints game...

— Mindi Bach (@MBachCSN) January 4, 2013

#49ers Akers flew back to Philly after Saints game to see same surgeon where he received a few injections

— Mindi Bach (@MBachCSN) January 4, 2013