It was a little curious that kicker Eddy Piñeiro didn't attempt any field goals during the Bears' first week of practice – something Matt Nagy chalked it up to scheduling, adding that, 'we're just not there yet.'
Then, later that day, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the team was signing free agent Cairo Santos, and the latest round of Bears kicking hysteria was off and running. Was Piñeiro hurt? Just not making kicks? On Sunday afternoon, Nagy addressed the growing concern:
So, couple things. In regards to Cairo. Cairo was in and it goes back to that contingency plan, backup plan that we have. That's been going on for a long time, I'm not saying specifically Cairo, but just with bringing, we need to have another kicker on this roster. It's just, that position, knowing kind of where the COVID testing is right now, we all feel it's very important that you have somebody that can come in if something was to happen to Eddy.
And then, in regards to Eddy, it's kind of ironic that the whole thing came out yesterday with Cairo coming in. But with Eddy, just being completely transparent with y'all, when that question was asked yesterday at the end, I hadn't really talked to, had a one-on-one conversation with Eddy in regards to his situation. So I wanted to be able to answer it better than not give you an answer I didn't really know a whole lot about. I had a good conversation with him yesterday afternoon and he does have a little bit of a groin that he's dealing with right now.
Nagy's first point isn't entirely surprising. It's always smart to have some kickers on speed dial, and in a season that the team's already calling 'the year of the contingency plan,' it's probably closer to imperative. That being said, the info about Piñeiro's groin is new – and, with three weeks until the season opener, plenty concerning. A week ago the team was cutting Ramiz Ahmed because of the 'numbers game,' and now they're talking about the importance of having two kickers on the roster. It's not an emergency yet, but the situation's already closer to one than the Bears ever planned on.
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Matt Nagy clarifies where Bears stand on Eddy Pieiro/Cairo Santos competition originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
