On Sunday, the Carolina Panthers return to the scene of their most painful loss in recent memory—Mercedes-Benz Stadium. But one of the main suspects from the defeat probably isn’t sweating it too much.
Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor spoke with reporters just days ahead of Carolina’s season opener against the Atlanta Falcons. And as far as the progress of kicker Eddy Piñeiro goes, Tabor seems quite pleased.
“I think he’s still workin’ on his craft, and still workin’ to get better,” he said. “Been really pleased with that. And he had a good session yesterday. But there’s still some technical things he wants to work through and I think that’s where we’re at. I just appreciate how he’s been approaching each season. I had him way back in Chicago. So I’ve kinda watched him grow from there to here. And he’s just gettin’ better. Pleased with him.”
Tabor and Piñeiro teamed up in the Windy City between 2019 and 2020. They’d then reunite in the Queen City, at the end of last summer when the Panthers were scrambling for a healthy leg.
Piñiero went on to have a stellar campaign in Carolina, but experienced a pretty awful hiccup right in the middle of it. That came in their Week 8 visit to Atlanta, where he missed two potential game-winners—one an extra point try with 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the other a 32-yard field goal attempt in overtime.
So when asked if he’s spoken with Piñeiro about returning there, Tabor dismissed any potentially bad thoughts.
“Haven’t talked about it at all,” he replied. “He had a bad day. We can turn on golf and somebody’s havin’ a bad day. It’s just one of those days and that’s what happened. I think what he did after that speaks to who he is and we’re tryin’ to build off that.”
Following that horrific afternoon, Piñeiro went on to close out the season by converting on each of his 19 field goals and 18 of his 19 extra points.
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