The Chicago Bears have promoted kicker Cairo Santos to the active roster from the practice squad, the team announced Saturday.
The move isn’t a surprising one considering the Bears placed Eddy Pineiro on injured reserve this week as he continues to nurse a groin injury. Earlier this week, head coach Matt Nagy said it was “a safe bet” that Santos would be the team’s kicker heading into Week 1 against the Detroit Lions.
We have moved K Cairo Santos to the active roster.@Hyundai | #DaBears
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 12, 2020
Under new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) rules this season, the Bears are allowed to elevate two practice squad players each week without having to waive an existing player on the 53-man roster.
Nagy has liked what he’s seen from Santos so far during practices, and he’s confident in what Santos can do in Pineiro’s absence.
“I just know from my history, playing outside in Arrowhead and other places for three years with Cairo, it was just one of those deals where you never were concerned that when he got up to kick a field goal or an extra point, you really weren’t concerned at all if he was going to make it or miss it,” Nagy said. “They’re all going to have some misses, but it wasn’t something where you were holding your breath. That’s just how I felt. Right now, he’s in here, in training camp and these last practices and, you know, knock on wood, but he’s making a lot of kicks right now, which I like.”
Santos impressed during his only real practice making kicks during the team’s scrimmage at Soldier Field in late August, where special teams coordinator Chris Tabor came away impressed.
“No and knock on wood he doesn’t miss a lot of kicks and I think that’s what we like,” Tabor said. “To his credit that was his first time that we’d been down there. It was a nicer day, we all understand that. But it is a tough place to kick and to be able to walk into Soldier and make all your kicks, that’s a good sign.”
The last time Santos kicked in a regular-season game, he missed four kicks for the Tennessee Titans, who released him the following day. Santos chalked it up to it just not being his day, and he’s moved on from it.
“I think it was just a freak day, something that not even in my worst nightmares I could think of that could happen,” Santos said. “I was, thought I was killing it out there in practice, pregame warm-ups, for the five weeks I was in Tennessee. It was a rainy warm-up, it was just kind of, things fell out of sync. I was, it just kind of happens. . . So I knew I had to move on and I did that and I stayed confident and here we are in Week 1 and I’m just ready to get going.”
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