Eddy Pineiro will be the Bears’ kicker Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers. The Bears’ long, winding search for a kicker — which featured that eight-kicker rookie minicamp tryout and replays of the double-doink and Augusta silence and Robbie Gould’s trade demand — is over.
“It’s a lot of weight lifted off my shoulders,” Pineiro said. “Just excited to be the guy. This organization believes in me and giving me a shot to be where I’m at. Just want to make them happy.”
The Bears feel Pineiro earned his job with a strong preseason in which he made eight of nine kicks and three of four PATs (which, of course, included his shank on Thursday).