Kicker woes are nothing new for the Chicago Bears, who’ve had four different starting kickers since Robbie Gould’s departure in 2016.
While it appeared that Eddy Pineiro would be the starter for the second straight season, a groin injury has kept him sidelined on injured reserve, which opened the door for veteran Cairo Santos, who has started all five games this season.
The Bears also signed veteran kicker Kai Forbath to the practice squad last week. No, the Bears don’t have a kicker controversy on their hands. But there are certainly a ton of questions. Especially with the uncertainties this season that extend beyond injury to COVID-19.
Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor said that Forbath’s addition is more “in case of emergency” than competition at kicker.
“I mean obviously there’s a lot of COVID issues going around right now,” Tabor said. “At that position, if someone would wake up in the morning with COVID, we’ve been in a lot of tight games and you don’t have a guy that can go out and make a field goal. That’s concerning.
“Kai is a guy that’s obviously been in this league a long time. He’s really a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency, is what he is.”
Pineiro is “still part of our plans,” says Tabor, despite not being close to returning off injured reserve. Until then, it’s Santos and Forbath — two new kickers on the roster this season — in the never-ending carousel of Bears kickers.
