Technically, the Bears' kicking situation was set to resolve itself this week. After sitting out the mandatory three-week window, Eddy Piñeiro – who's been sidelined on Injured Reserve with a groin injury since the beginning of training camp –became eligible to return to the active roster. In reality, however, it's still not entirely clear when that'll actually happen.
"Whenever he's available, I think you have to be smart when you bring a player back and just make sure that you work him up to become game ready," special teams coordinator Chris Tabor said on Thursday. "I think that's how we'll approach it."
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The coaching staff isn't worried about Piñeiro's longterm outlook, but Tabor admitted that groin injuries are "a tough one" for kickers to work through. As for the Bears' game against Indianapolis in 96 hours, Nagy refused to confirm that they'd continue on with Cairo Santos, only saying that Santos taking kicks at practice was "where we're at in regards to Cairo."
It'll be Santos, however, that heads down to Soldier Field with Tabor for their weekly Friday session – a pretty clear signal that he'll be the one kicking there on Sunday, too. He's gotten off to an uneven start through the first four games of 2020, going 12-14 on all kicks (8-8 on XPs, 6-8 on FGs) but missing relatively easy attempts against the Giants (50 yards) and Falcons (46).
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"He realizes that when you’re indoors, and I think it was a 46-yard field goal, that we’ve got to make those every time," Nagy added. "And so, there’s nothing that I do or we jump down his back or yell at him and scream at him. He understands that. He’s a true professional. He knows that. He’s not trying to miss it.
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"I was probably more upset at the time that we were kicking a field goal — attempting one — than to miss, just because it was that early in the game. Trust me, coach Tabor and Cairo and these guys are wanting to do everything they can to make them."