The plan, originally, was for Eddy Pineiro to travel to Soldier Field to practice on Tuesday. The field, though, wasn’t set up for kicking, he said. He wasn’t sure why.
“They just said we couldn’t be out there,” he said.
Pineiro stayed at Halas Hall instead. The wind was violent enough, he said, to test him. Forecasts call for similar conditions in the Bears’ preseason finale Thursday at Soldier Field.
“Windy?” coach Matt Nagy said. “Good. We like that.”
One way or the other, the game will mark Pineiro’s final test. To make the team, he needs to kick well at the Bears’ home stadium. Thus far this preseason, he’s 4-for-4 on field goal tries on the road – and 1-for-2 at Soldier Field.
The kicker, though, said his “Family Fest” performance — in which he made all 12 tries in front of 18,797 fans at Soldier Field — should count for something.
“I feel like every game you have to show these guys that I’m hopefully the guy,” he said. “But the big day for me was the ‘Family Fest’ day. …
“They know I’m capable of kicking well at Soldier Field. I just have to prove it now. That’s the goal.”
Nagy sure seemed pleased with Pineiro — who’s the Bears’ lone survivor of a bizarre kicker derby — making a 58-yarder Saturday against the Colts. He said Tuesday that “it’s definitely looking good for us — and I hope it stays that way.”
That depends on Pineiro’s performance against the Titans.
“He’s gonna have however many Bears fans that are there, watching him,” Nagy said. “And knowing you have that, it is outdoors — it’s not inside like it was in Indianapolis. But again, every day, every kick that he gets we’re all going to be evaluating him.”
Slaying Soldier Field in the summer should be a much easier task than in the later months. The winds that pick up in the late fall and early winter have baffle even the Bears’ best kickers.
As much praise as Robbie Gould receives for taming the stadium, he was still a better kicker on the road during his Bears career. From 2005-15, he made 83.2 percent of his kicks at home and 87.8 on the road.
The Bears’ second-best kicker ever, Kevin Butler, had an even greater disparity. From 1985-95, he made 67.9 percent of his attempts at home and 78.1 on the road.
Cody Parkey made only 73.7 percent of his field goal tries at Soldier Field last year, but 80 percent during road games. Connor Barth, the Bears’ regular kicker before him, made 72.7 percent of his kicks at home and 76.5 percent while away.
“My goal is to make the team and prove to these guys that I can be the guy for Week 1,” Pineiro said. “That’s what I want to do the next game.”
He’s cautious about getting too excited about his status, which seems more stable than at any point during the Bears’ derby. One reason: his experience with the Raiders last preseason. He made all three kicks during the exhibition season but hurt his groin Aug. 15. He thought he’d miss two regular-season games, but the Raiders put him on Injured Reserve the day before cuts were due. His season was over.
“I was only supposed to be out two weeks,” Pineiro said. ‘They were like, ‘Hey, we’re going to stash you. We’re going to get you ready for the next season. You’re going to be here for the next 10 years.’
“I was happy because they believed in me. And then they traded me.”
The lesson?
“I think that’s just part of kicking,” he said. “Everybody’s a journeyman.”
Pineiro, though, hopes to find a home here this week. He’ll have a week to leave the team hotel for more permanent digs if he makes the Bears. He thinks he’ll look for an apartment in Lake Forest.
But first thing’s first.
“I’ll start looking after [Thursday’s] game,” he said. “Depending on what they say.”
