Bears Blitz: Previewing Bears vs. Saints and a chance for 4 wins in a row
For the second game in a row, the Chicago Bears will turn to Jake Moody for their kicking duties.
Cairo Santos was ruled out for Sunday’s game vs. New Orleans, offering a second chance for Moody to prove he has a future in the NFL.
What we know:
Moody found out days before last Monday that he was going to be the Bears’ starting kicker against the Commanders.
All he did was tie a franchise record for made field goals in a Bears’ debut and nail the game-winner to stun Washington in a rainy game on the road.
Now, Moody will face the lakefront wins of Soldier Field on Sunday vs. the Saints. It’s just another thing the Bears are counting on special teams coordinator Richard Hightower.
"Coach Hightower does a great job making sure we turnover every stone to make sure we're exhausting every avenue so that all of our players are ready," Bears head coach Ben Johnson said on Friday. "For example, they have a left-footed punter. We had a guy come in to kick to our returners yesterday. Things of that nature."
The process of getting a new kicker acclimated with a new team isn’t a simple one. Hightower called it difficult on Thursday.
Regular fans don’t realize how a kicker needs to get a feel for the long snapper, the holder and the blocking up front. That’s a process the Bears got in front of.
"Some people don't think it is, but it's kudos to our personnel department for having Jake in early enough for him to have an opportunity to get some familiarity so that when his number was called, he was ready to deliver," Hightower said. "Most of the time when that happens, you get called in and you're flying on a plane and then the next day you kick it and you're trying to figure out what the snapper and holder's name’s and how he holds the ball and all that good stuff. It's difficult process, but those guys handled it – they handled it masterfully."
One of the ways the special teams unit encouraged Hightower was how they prepared for the damp conditions in Maryland on their own. Kicking a wet ball adds some weight to it, and that adds a level of difficulty.
"I didn't even have to get them to do wet ball this week," Hightower said. "They did it on their own, like they were already light years ahead. When we went out there, they were doing it before I ever got to them. They were already on the field doing it on Wednesday."
Even though Santos is out again on Sunday, Johnson noted that he’s going to be the Bears’ starting kicker when healthy. Moody would need some bigger developments to happen to take over the starting job for the rest of the season.
For now, Moody will be in the spotlight again on special teams.
"I'm pretty confident that Jake will be as prepared as he could possibly be," Johnson said.
Dig deeper:
Santos isn’t the only injury the Bears are working with this week.
Linebacker Noah Sewell is out Sunday with a concussion. Meanwhile, Grady Jarrett, D’Andre Swift, Austin Booker, Travis Homer and Amen Ogbongbemiga are listed as questionable.
DJ Moore, after spending the night in a D.C.-area hospital for precautionary reasons after suffering a groin injury before flying back, was not given an injury designation for Sunday. The Bears later said both Moore and Swift are expected to play.
It’s also likely that pass rusher Austin Booker will see his first action of the regular season this week. The Bears announced they released defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon, which would make room for Booker to return to the 53-man roster.
BearsSports