The Chicago Bears dumped kicker Cody Parkey in March, months after his blocked “double-doink” field goal knocked the team out of the playoffs in the wild card round, and the team’s search for a replacement couldn’t be going any worse.
In May, the Bears brought eight kickers to minicamp, and had each take attempt from 43 yards to mirror Parkey’s fateful kick. Only two kickers converted.
In June, we learned that the Bears have started to give their kickers the silent treatment during attempts. Coach Matt Nagy explained that the team has an “Augusta silence” rule, which is designed to create an “eerie” atmosphere that puts kickers under pressure.
Via ESPN:
Bears special-teams coordinator Chris Tabor explained on Wednesday that he and head coach Matt Nagy lifted a page from the Masters’ playbook and operate under the code of “Augusta silence” whenever a field goal is called for during team drills at OTAs.
…. We’re creating as much pressure as we can on these guys,” Nagy said. “We’re getting the ‘Augusta silence’ out here with the team and that’s eerie.”
Chris Blewitt, Eddy Pineiro and Elliott Fry are the three remaining kickers battling for a spot in training camp, but all three failed their latest test in practice this week. Each kicker was given a chance to kick from Parkey range – and no one was able to convert.
As a team, the Bears made nine of 12 attempts from 40 to 49 yards last season. Nagy pointed out after practice that even if just one of his kickers had been successful, no one would have noticed – but the Bears have spent so much time trying to ceremonially exorcise their kicking demons, it’s difficult to see any kicker faring well if they happen to face a 42-yarder in the regular season.
Via the Chicago Tribune:
“I mean, that’s about as real as it gets. They were 0-for-3 out there. For today, we can’t have that. We are going to figure this thing out. But 0-for-3 today, no good,” Nagy said.
…. They went back to back to back, and all three missed. So they are being evaluated not just by (the media), not just by me but by their teammates.”
