As training camp comes to a close, there aren’t many questions the Chicago Bears have heading into the regular season.
But there is one rather important and well-documented question. The only question that matters at this point:
Is the Bears kicker currently on the roster?
“The best thing I can do to answer that question is make all my field goals and try to do the best I can so that won’t happen,” Eddy Pineiro said, via NBC Sports Chicago. “But it is what it is. Whatever happens, happens. I understand that it is a business.”
While Pineiro and Elliott Fry have been under the microscope in training camp, where neither of them managed to jump ahead of the other, the real test comes in live game action.
“Looking at what they do in these preseason games is going to be really the true test,” Matt Nagy said. “But we’re looking for that production.”
In the Bears’ preseason opener against the Panthers, Fry and Pineiro rotated between kicks, each attempting two.
Fry connected on his extra point attempt and a 43-yard field goal that had to be reassuring for Bears fans. Meanwhile, Pineiro went 1-for-2, connecting on a 23-yard field goal and missing a 48-yarder wide left.
“If you don’t perform, you’re going to look elsewhere,” Fry said. “You gotta focus on your kicks. And if you can come in and make kicks when they count, if you have a really good preseason and make all your kicks it’s going to be hard for them to turn you away.”
As GM Ryan Pace has made it known, the Bears are exploring all options when looking for an answer to the kicker woes. But if Fry or Pineiro do enough to separate himself from his competition, like Fry said, it’ll be hard to deny them the job.
The next test comes Friday, when the Bears travel to New York to play the Giants.
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