Bears Punt on Kicker Problem; Horsted Elevated
The Bears have numerous problems besides quarterback and they addressed one on Wednesday while intentionally doing nothing about the other.
Tight end Jesper Horsted was signed from the practice squad to the 53-man roster to replace Trey Burton, who went on injured reserve late last week. The Bears signed linebacker James Vaughters back to the practice squad to fill Jesper's old spot.
With Burton held to 14 catches due to injuries, the Bears have been severely limited offensively. Burton played the U-tight end spot and was vital to many adjustments made with the offense during the course of a game.
The Bears had their choice at the position. They could have promoted Dax Raymond, as well, but Nagy indicated they weren't quite as certain whether Raymond is a U-tight end who moves around more or a traditional Y-tight end who is on the line.
"Horsted is definitely a U-position," coach Matt Nagy said. "He's done some good things for us which ... that's what you want to see. You want to be able to bring some guys in and let them develop over time.
"So we just felt like with our tight end position right now that that's something that we can do."
Horsted is a converted wide receiver from Princeton, who also played baseball in college. At Princeton he set school records for receptions (196) and touchdown catches (28). He added some weight since coming to the Bears in preseason. He caught eight passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns in preseason.
The action the Bears haven't taken is bringing in another kicker for at least a look after Eddy Pineiro missed from 47 and 48 yards in the first half against the Rams.
Pineiro on Wednesday declined to talk to media members.
"This is everything get's magnified, and it's frustrating because he wants to make it," Nagy said. "I know he's competitive as hell. He wants to make that. He's mad at himself. We know that.
"We want him to know that we've got confidence in him, and when you get a chance to go back out there--the thing to me that was a little bit different was, what we talked about was, it was two in a row that he missed. That’s what we’re working through. So now, when we get back out there, he’s going to make them and we're going to get rolling."
One other headache the Bears seem to have averted is on the offensive line. Tackle Bobby Massie left Sunday's game with lower back stiffness, but on Wednesday was able to go through a full practice.
The only Bears missing practice were tight end Adam Shaheen with a foot injury and linebacker Danny Trevathan with an elbow injury. So far, the Bears have avoided putting Trevathan on season-ending injured reserve, indicating they must feel he could return at some point later in the season.
Linebacker Isaiah Irving (quad) practiced on a limited basis.
