The wildest week of kicker Eddy Pineiro’s career took a new twist Saturday when the Bears announced that a knee injury could keep him out of their game Monday at the Redskins.
Pineiro was at his locker after practice, but declined to speak a word to reporters who approached. He quickly got dressed and rushed out, which was unusual from one of the team’s most gregarious and upbeat players.
Bears coach Matt Nagy seemed equally stressed and didn’t say anything to dispel concerns about the injury.
“As these days go by, let’s just see where he’s at,” he said. “I’m going to be on the cautious side with him, and we’ll just kind of feel out the pain part. And if it’s something that’s going to affect him, then we’ll have a decision to make... Hopefully he’ll be OK.”
Pineiro went 3 for 3 against the Broncos on Sunday and lifted the Bears to a 16-14 victory by hitting a field goal from 53 yards as time expired. He injured his knee Friday in the weight room and was limited in practice Saturday.
Nagy said he kicked Saturday, but was in pain. He listed Pineiro as questionable on the final injury report.
The Bears’ only other player with meaningful kicking experience is punter Pat O’Donnell, who usually serves as the holder on field goals. He has never kicked in the NFL, but handled kickoffs his final season at the University of Miami and was a kicker in high school.
While O’Donnell is a decent option, there’s little chance the Bears would go into a game with him as their kicker. It’s more likely they would sign a free agent as a short-term fill-in.
That decision usually needs to be made by 3 p.m. the day before the game, but the Bears have a little more time because of playing Monday. They need to finalize their 53-man roster for the game by 3 p.m. Monday, about four hours before kickoff.
“I don’t want to rush to judgment yet,” Nagy said. “That’s not where we’re at. I really do think that we’ll be OK. We just want to make sure that we’re doing everything the right way with him, with his pain, and... see how he feels.
“There are a lot of different scenarios that could happen, but I’m not going down that route. I feel good that things will be OK. If they’re not, then we just have to have a contingency plan... Especially after what just happened with us and what we’ve been through and what he just did this past weekend, it’s like we’re on a roll here and then all of a sudden something crazy like this happens.”
One logical back-up plan is Elliott Fry, who was competing with Pineiro for the job until the Bears cut him in mid-August.
Changing kickers — even temporarily — would be brutal for the Bears, who were optimistic they’d solved that problem with Pineiro. He has made all four kicks his season, including three of 40-plus yards.
