When the Chicago Bears made their way onto the field for Tuesday’s Family Fest practice at Soldier Field, they were greeted by some of the familiarities of home.
A steady breeze blew in off Lake Michigan. The skyline looked majestic above the stadium’s north side. Hordes of excited Bears fans filled the morning with welcome enthusiasm.
And the grass? Well, the grass was the way Soldier Field grass too often is. Trampled. Patchy. Chewed up.
Veteran kicker Cairo Santos was dismayed if not even a bit surprised or rattled.
“Especially with it being the week of our first game of the (preseason),” Santos said Wednesday. “I’ve seen better. It’s just what we have to deal with.”
Defensive end Robert Quinn was alerted a little while later of Santos’ less-than-glowing review of the Soldier Field grass.
“If he’s just realizing that,” Quinn said with a big smile, “I mean … I think it’s a little late. That’s just part of Soldier Field.”
Santos wasn’t complaining or experiencing any sort of personal revelation. This will be his third consecutive season calling Soldier Field his home stadium. Since rejoining the Bears in 2020, he has attempted 27 field goals and 31 extra points there, an archive of experience to draw from.
And part of the reason the 30-year-old kicker felt so at ease discussing the field conditions is he believes he long ago cleared the mental hurdle of dealing with Soldier Field’s grass/dirt/sand/crater conditions.
Santos was in an ideal headspace, he said Tuesday: “Felt just like riding a bike.”
That’s not to say adjustments aren’t needed. For example, before practice ramped up Tuesday, Santos walked around the field with rookie punter/holder Trenton Gill and took notes on the sections of the field that seemed particularly troublesome. He made sure to point those out.
“Look, if we have a field goal right here, we have to move (the hold) maybe off the hash,” he told Gill. “Or maybe onto the field and inside the hash more. Just to get away from this hole.”
Sure, Santos realizes it’s ridiculous as an NFL kicker to have to examine the grass conditions of his home stadium as much as he tests the wind — especially at this stage of the summer. But it has become a normal part of the routine.
“You have to do that,” he said.
Santos has come to accept that his range at Soldier Field is reduced, simply because of the inconsistent field conditions and how they alter his approach to longer kicks.
“There’s a little bit of hesitation that you can really attack (with) your plant foot,” Santos said. “So you try to be a little bit more careful.”
Santos spent the bulk of his offseason working out in Florida. He was playfully asked Wednesday if he ever seeks out a practice setting that’s a little rougher around the edges to more accurately simulate the Soldier Field conditions.
Perhaps a chewed-up park district field? Or a road littered with potholes?
Santos laughed.
“I was going to a turf field at a high school (in Jacksonville), which was perfect,” he said. “It was almost like, ‘OK. I’m getting too comfortable.'”
So he found a soccer field in his neighborhood with long Bermuda grass and terrain that wasn’t entirely level.
“I was like, ‘OK. This is more like it,'” Santos said. “The ball flies differently. It’s not super even all the time. (But) Soldier’s not super even either.
“It’s good to be uncomfortable and feel comfortable when you’re uncomfortable. That’s, I guess, what I’m trying to say.”
Santos made all of his kicks at Soldier Field on Tuesday, a positive practice session that should solidify his comfort and confidence heading into Saturday’s preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Over the last two years, Santos has made 89% of his field-goal tries at home and 94% of his extra-point tries.
He might not love the Soldier Field landscape. But at least he has a much better understanding of the nuances, ball placement and footwork adjustments that are required.
“I’m trusting it more and not (finding) a problem every kick or every game,” Santos said. “But it’s still a bad situation, a bad surface to kick on compared to other places. You’re not super happy or thrilled to kick there every time. But you just overcome and deal with it.”
