Chicago had to make a change.
Why Bears have a new kicker Monday night, not Cairo Santos originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Chicago Bears have made a change for Week 6.
They just had a bye, and now playing on Monday Night Football, they've got a new kicker.
Cairo Santos is inactive after making 6 of his first 7 field goals this season while playing in all four Bears games so far. The veteran kicker was listed on the injury report all week with a thigh injury and was officially questionable despite having three full practices on the report.
In his place is a familiar name who will be making his Bears debut.
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Who is the Bears' kicker?
The Bears' new kicker for Week 6 on Monday Night Football is Jake Moody.
Moody was just cut by the after a rough Week 1.
He had a shaky 2024 season, too, so there's no guarantee he can return to form. But he was a third-round pick out of Michigan in 2023 and showed promise as a rookie.
The struggle was real before he was cut by San Francisco, though.
"Since Week 10 of last season, kicker Jake Moody has made 12 of 23 field goal tries, a 52% rate that is more than 11% lower than all other kickers who have attempted at least 10 field goals across that span," ESPN's Nick Wagoner wrote after his cut. "On Sunday, he missed from 27 yards in the first half then had a 36-yarder blocked in the second half, making him the first San Francisco kicker to have two misses inside 40 yards in a game since 2006."
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As a rookie in 2023, Moody had made 84% of his field goals.
That was down to 70% in 2024, already too low a number.
And then Week 1 went awry, and that was that.
Now, he gets his next chance with the Bears.
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