When the Chicago Bears returned to the practice field on Tuesday after having the week off, a few veterans were reportedly missing, most notably kicker Cairo Santos. Since the Bears don’t play until Monday night against the Washington Commanders, the first Week 6 injury report will not be available until Thursday.
The last thing we heard about the veteran kicker was that he “felt a sharp pain in his quad” during the third quarter of Chicago’s Week 4 game, and was removed from kickoffs, per Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Despite his quad pain, Santos still turned in a strong performance, as he was a perfect 4-for-4 on field goals, which included a 51-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to cut the Bears’ deficit down to just 2 points.
Bears Should Consider Bringing in More Competition for Jake Moody
That said, if Santos cannot play on Monday night, the Bears’ potential next best option is Jake Moody, who was signed to the practice squad following Week 1. Most Bears fans likely do not want to see Moody, who has struggled with accuracy and consistency over his three-year NFL career, but he would be the next logical choice to be called upon if Santos cannot play.
In fact, part of the reason why Moody got cut by the San Francisco 49ers after Week 1 was his inability to make relatively easy field goals. The 25-year-old kicker missed a 27-yard field goal and had a 36-yard field goal blocked.
For his career, Moody has made 74.2 percent of his field goals, while also struggling to make kicks from 40-plus yards away, and that came into play last season (10-of-20). Given Chicago’s lack of red zone attempts (11), you might need Moody to maybe kick from distance on Monday night, which hasn’t been automatic to start his career.
Therefore, the Bears shouldn’t be afraid to bring in other kickers, such as Lucas Havrisik, Dustin Hopkins, or Matthew Wright, who all worked out for the Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday. Between those three options, Hopkins has the most experience (10 years), but he took a huge step back last season, making a career-worst 66.7 percent of his field goals.
Hopkins also wasn’t consistent from 40-plus yards out, going 9-of-16 with the Browns. Wright is an intriguing option, as he kicked for three different teams (Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee Titans) last season.
The 29-year-old Wright made 93.8% of his field goals and was a stellar 3-for-3 on kicks between 40-49 yards and 1-for-2 on 50-plus yards. For his career, he’s 14-of-17 on field goals from 40-49 yards and 7-of-11 from 50 yards away.
That being said, the Bears likely want to go to Moody if Santos can’t play on Monday night. But they cannot refuse considering other kicking options, as we know what type of kicker Moody is right now.
Now, granted, can Moody change the trajectory of his career in Chicago and get back on track? Without a doubt. However, let’s say he has a miscue on Monday, and it ends up backfiring, fans will wonder why you didn’t bring anyone else in.