Chicago Bears: Rookie Camp Day 1 features atrocious kicking
By Ryan Heckman
The Chicago Bears kicked off their 2019 Rookie Camp on Friday and, let’s just say, fans will not be happy with how the large group of kickers fared.
It was only Day 1 for the Chicago Bears‘ rookies, but the group already made some headlines early on. The Bears’ roster features a plethora of talent, and many of these youngsters in attendance for this year’s rookie camp will likely move on and find work elsewhere following the weekend.
But, the one area where the Bears have a severe lack of talent was also the area which hurt them the most in their most recent playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Cody Parkey will forever be known by the simple phrase, “double-doink” in the city of Chicago. It was on the heels of his missed kick against the Eagles which sent the Bears packing before their playoff run could even begin.
The kick was from 43 yards out — a fairly doable distance for most NFL kickers. We’ll get back to this later, but keep that distance in mind.
Head coach Matt Nagy wasted no time on Friday and turned up the heat on his kicking competition. The Bears brought in eight kickers to rookie mini camp: Chris Blewitt, Redford Jones, Elliot Fry, John Baron II, Justin Yoon, Spencer Evans, Emmit Carpenter and Casey Bednarski.
How did Nagy crank up the competition right off the bat? Well, as I said, ’43’ is the key number, here.
Nagy had all eight of his kickers line up for a 43-yarder. Each of them had one chance to make the kick, with the entire team watching.
They went a combined 2-for-8.
Per the Adam Jahns of The Athletic, Nagy said “They know loud-and-clear why” the kick was from 43 yards out.
#Bears also hired Jamie Kohl of Kohl’s Kicking @KohlsKicking as a kicking consultant.
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) May 3, 2019
Nagy also added, “2-for-8, that’s not good enough,” and admitted he wanted to “put a little heat on them.”
Although six of the eight kickers missed, Nagy did say that the holds weren’t very good on some of the attempts.
It is only Day 1. It is only Day 1. It is only Day 1.
Next. Bears: Meet some of the new kickers at camp. dark
Keep repeating that to yourselves, Bears fans. Hopefully, things turn around quickly. All it takes is one guy to stand out — that’s all we’re hoping for.