Even the mere whiff of a potential kicker issue is troubling for the Bears, and it remained unclear Saturday whether they could plan on having mainstay Cairo Santos against the Commanders on Monday. Coach Ben Johnson was vague about his status and listed him as questionable on the final injury report.
Santos, who hasn’t missed a game due to injury since the Bears signed him in 2020 and has rarely shown up on the injury report, has been dealing with a quad injury in his kicking leg, but practiced in full Friday and Saturday. He said Wednesday he felt good and had “been progressing,” but hedged on his availability by adding, “We’ve got a great backup plan if I’m not able to go.”
He hadn’t done any kickoffs at that point. The Bears had punter Tory Taylor handle that late in the Raiders game when Santos got hurt.
When asked if it’d be worth giving up a roster spot to have practice-squad kicker Jake Moody available as a contingency, Johnson said, “We’ll have a plan.” Practice-squad kicker Jake Moody also could handle kickoffs, which the Bears had punter Tory Taylor do when Santos got hurt against the Raiders.
Santos is the most accurate kicker in franchise history at 89.2% on field goals and is 6 for 7 this season. Moody hasn’t kicked since missing two field goals for the 49ers in their opener and subsequently was cut.
The Bears are required to declare Sunday whether Santos travels with them to the Washington, D.C., area and have until Monday at 3 p.m. to make any roster moves for the game.
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