The Chicago Bears coaches pretty much proved they’re not in the business of showing mercy when the kicking competition began at rookie minicamps three weeks ago. It started right away with the kickers all having to boot one field goal from 43 yards at the end of practice with everybody watching. Then came head-to-head matchups where the first one to miss forced the offense or defense to do extra up-downs.
Brutal. Well, it seems special teams coordinator Chris Tabor and kicking consultant Jamie Kohl had no intention of letting up when Organized Team Activities began. In addition to their usual work, the kickers were subjected to another little wrinkle. This one designed to force them to narrow the field on which they’re able to kick a field goal successfully.
Kalyn Kahler of the MMQB explained in her recent article.
“For Chicago’s first OTA practice, the goal posts looked a little bit different. A second set of uprights were built inside the standard-width uprights, a method to narrow the target space for the kicker and increase the difficulty for each attempt. Bears kicker were two-for-three collectively on field goals using the extra-narrow uprights in full team situations.
Pineiro missed the narrow uprights on his second and final attempt with the full field goal unit and defense from 40-something yards out (media were standing in the endzone, so was difficult to judge the distance), wide right.”
Chicago Bears coaches clearly want to know who can’t stand the heat
This may seem like a sort of mental torture, and it is. There’s a reason for it too. The Bears were undone last year by a kicker who couldn’t handle the pressure. Cody Parkey was bad enough in regular situations but he was brutal in crunch time. If this team wants to win a Super Bowl, they know they need a kicker who can deliver them points in tight ball games.
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If that means stressing these guys this early in the process? So be it. If you can’t stand drills like this, it’s a surefire guarantee you’ll blow it at some point when the kicks start to matter. Nagy and his staff aren’t taking any chances. They don’t just want a guy who can kick a ball a long way. They want somebody who can tune out the noise of a hostile crowd and drill 45-yarder on the road to win the game.
Do one of those exist in this current competition? That is what they’re aiming to find out.
