NEWSLETTER
Elliott Fry made a strong first impression as he put his best foot forward during the first public practice of training camp:
And the fans chant “Fry! Fry! Fry! Fry!” after he DRILLS a 60-yarder. Let’s freaking go! #BearsCamp
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) July 27, 2019
The 60-yard strike capped a 9-for-10 day for Fry on Saturday.
Fry’s one miss came from 33 yards, which you can take one of two ways — you can see it as a strike against his record because that’s a basically a gimme or you can take note that Fry bounced back and nailed all of his other kicks. To be clear, missing a 33-yard kick isn’t what’s desired. But bouncing back to be true on all his other kicks, especially the ones from 50 and 60 yards away was truly impressive. There has been plenty of chatter about Eddy Piñeiro having the big, booming leg in camp, but Fry jumped onto the radar with his performance today.
As for Piñeiro, he did not kick in drills today. But don’t worry, because it is all part of the plan:
Matt Nagy says today was a scheduled day for Elliott Fry to kick. Eddy Pineiro will kick tomorrow. #Bears
— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) July 27, 2019
Saturday was Fry’s day. Sunday will be Piñeiro’s day. It’s a bold strategy, but one I can vibe with at this point of training camp. If executed properly, giving kickers assigned days will allow them to mentally gear up for being The Guy that day. Clearly, the Bears value the mental side of this competition. In the meantime, we’re left playing the waiting game to see what Piñeiro has in store for the kicking competition.
I can’t front: There was some nervous energy in the stands in Bourbonnais when we realized it was time for the place-kicking portion of practice was set to take place. But it was neat to hear Bears fans cheer for, then rally behind Fry as he continued to knock footballs through the uprights. If only for one morning, Bears fans were pleased with what they saw from their team’s kicker. And while this performance isn’t indicative of future results, it was a good start.
