Bears kicker Cairo Santos naturally has some concern about the operation involved on place kicks this year with new holder Trenton Gill taking long snaps from Patrick Scales.
Yet, Santos also has an old stand-by to worry about: The turf at Soldier Field.
When the Bears went out on the turf for their Tuesday Fan Fest practice, it was the familiar old Soldier Field problem for Santos.
"Especially Week 1, our first game of the season, I've seen better," Santos said. "It's just what we have to deal with.
"The less of a problem you make it in your mind it just kind of helps you overcome it and just go."
If Santos wants perfect conditions, maybe he needs to stay home.
"It's funny because, so I was training in Florida in Jacksonville and I was going to a turf field at a high school, which was perfect," Santos said. "It was almost like, 'OK. I'm getting too comfortable.'
"So in my neighborhood there's a soccer field and the grass is a bermuda grass. It's real long. I was like, 'OK. This is more like it.' Yeah, the ball flies different. It's not super even all the time. Soldier's not super even either. It's good to be uncomfortable, and feeling comfortable when you're uncomfortable. That's, I guess, what I'm trying to say. It's important to put yourself in that situation."
It seems like a time of the year when field conditions should be optimal, with the preseason opener coming Saturday against Kansas City. However, the stadium gets used by the Fire soccer team and for concerts.
"There was a kick yesterday–I think it was a 30-yarder–and the spot on the grass was more dirt than grass," Santos said. "The ball just sits different. I felt like I caught it a little high on the ball.
"That stuff kind of happens a lot. It's not always super consistent (like) when you always have a perfect surface."
Bad conditions can affect the distance more than anything else, Santos said.
"I want to say distance just because there's a little bit of hesitation that you can, OK, really attack your plant foot and stuff," Santos said. "So you try and be a little bit more careful. It's been so many times kicking at Soldier Field that I think I'm past that too. I'm trusting it more and not making a problem every kick, or every game.
"But it's still a bad situation, a bad surface to kick on compared to other places. You're not super happy and thrilled to kick there every time. But you just overcome and deal with it."
There has been less whining about the turf in recent years since the Bears and the Chicago Park District, which owns and operates Soldier Field, went to a thicker sod grown in New Jersey.
The turf was notorious for being bad in the last decade. The Bears had a Family Fest practice canceled in 2011 when players arrived from Bourbonnais only to find the sod hadn't been watered properly after it was put down, and the edges of the pieces had curled up to create dangerous seams. They went back to Bourbonnais that night and practiced on Bradley-Bourbonnais High School field.
Santos managed to go without a miss in practice on Tuesday despite the sketchy field conditions.
Bears defensive end had to smile when he heard Santos was complaining about the Soldier Field turf.
"Well, if he's just realizing that, I mean," Quinn said, laughing. "You know, I think it's a little late.
"I mean, I just think that's a part of Soldier Field. You realize what you're playing with: the grass and how it's not like turf where it's going to stick. It's going to give a little bit so you've just got to realize the surface you're playing on and adjust. We practice on grass anyway."
They seem to have negotiated the new holder better than the turf.
"He already has a lot of experience, which he does. He's an elite punter," Santos said of Gill, the North Carolina State rookie who took over for Pat O'Donnell. "He was at college and earned his way here. But he still he wants to absorb everything he can to be a better punter."
There's plenty to know about holding for placement for Gill, but Santos said he already has picked up how best to put the ball down in a way his kicker likes, the laces and angle just right and without any spin.
"So as soon as Trent came in, I was able to just to watch him a little bit and see how he is with his hands, and he's very athletic, very comfortable when he's holding," Santos said. "And I knew having Scales, having him back after him being a free agent, was going to be huge for our operation. Somebody I trust. Somebody who I think is one of the best in the league."
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