Kicker Eddy Pineiro is “still part of our plans” despite being on injured reserve with a groin problem, Bears special teams coordinator Chris Tabor said on Thursday. Still, it appears Pineiro isn’t close to returning, as the Bears signed veteran Kai Forbath to the practice squad last week.’
Tabor said Forbath will be insurance in case starter Cairo Santos gets hurt — or worse.
“I mean obviously there’s a lot of COVID issues going around right now,” he 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.”
Forbath has made 131 of 151 kicks in 10 seasons. He kicked in three games with the Cowboys and two with the Patriots last year.
