Bears kicker Eddy Pineiro hasn’t said much about his rough night during the loss to the Rams last week, when he missed two field goals and was bypassed for two other tries, but his coaches are doing everything possible to project positivity as he tries to shake a month-long slump.
Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor volunteered that Pineiro made 21 of 23 field goals in a workout at Soldier Field this week and reiterated that he believes Pineiro will turn it around quickly.
“He’s a confident kid,” Tabor said. “And I don’t see any bugs in there or snakes in his head that I’m worried about.”
Pineiro, the youngest and least experienced Bears kicker since Robbie Gould’s rookie season in 2005, has missed four field goals and an extra point in his last four games. He missed a game-winner against the Chargers in Week 8 and killed the offense’s momentum by missing two in the first quarter of the Rams game.
Tabor works with Pineiro in pre-game warm-ups to determine the extent of his kicking range and said he made multiple 60-yarders in the warm, clear weather in Los Angeles. He saw a player who was overly eager, though, because of the perfect conditions.
“First one, he’s just trying to swing too hard,” Tabor said of Pineiro going wide left from 48 yards on the opening drive. “Classic example of a cold-weather kicker going to a warm place and you kinda get mesmerized with, ‘I’m gonna have a big night. Conditions are perfect.’”
It’s odd to call Pineiro a cold-weather kicker after growing up in South Florida and playing collegiately at Florida, but the point stands on him being too revved up. That factored into the second miss, a 47-yarder that sailed wide right, because Tabor thought he “just overcompensated.”
He has made 70.6 percent of his field goals, which ranks 25th in the NFL going into the Bears’ home game Sunday against the Giants. The forecast calls for 45 degrees and windy.
Pineiro declined to speak to the media again Thursday. That hasn’t stopped everyone else from talking about him, of course, and Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot chimed in Wednesday by chirping the Bears to get their offense going.
“And Eddy Pineiro, find your leg again,” said Lightfoot, a season-ticket holder.
The topic turned to the Bears when Lightfoot, speaking after a City Council meeting, was asked what she was doing for Thanksgiving. She said her 91-year-old mother was coming over.
“My mother’s actually a big football fan … so I’m sure she’ll watch a little bit of it,” she said. “The question is, ‘Will it be worth watching?’ That remains to be seen.”
Injury updates
The Bears held tight end Adam Shaheen (foot) and linebacker Danny Trevathan (elbow) out of practice Thursday. Neither is expected to play Sunday.
Right tackle Bobby Massie practiced in full for the second day in a row after leaving the Rams game with a back injury and seems to be back to normal. Backup linebacker Isaiah Irving was limited because of a quad injury.
Sun-Times staff writer Patrick Finley contributed to this report.
