Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos will really feel greater than the everyday Week 1 pleasure when he practices at Soldier Subject on Friday.
He’s additionally keen to look at a brand new enjoying floor he hopes will make it simpler to kick at residence beginning in Sunday’s season opener towards the San Francisco 49ers.
Earlier this week, the Bears resodded Soldier Subject with Bermuda grass, changing the outdated Kentucky bluegrass.
Bears coach Matt Eberflus stated the change was within the works for a while, although it wasn’t applied till after Soldier Subject hosted German steel band Rammstein’s live performance Saturday.
The change comes after subject circumstances had been so dangerous throughout the preseason recreation towards the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs on Aug. 13 that they drew the eye of NFL Gamers Affiliation President JC Tretter, who tweeted that the league and groups “clearly must re-evaluate what's an appropriate floor for gamers to compete on.”
“We really feel it’s going to be a pleasant floor,” Eberflus stated. “It’s going to be a quick floor, which I believe lends to assist us out. … We wish an extended, quick, athletic soccer group. In order that lends to our benefit.”
Santos was sincere in regards to the subject circumstances throughout the Household Fest follow on Aug. 9 and the Chiefs recreation, the one exhibition at Soldier Subject this 12 months. He famous how he walked round earlier than the follow figuring out troublesome holes and stated he has needed to be cautious through the years on lengthy kicks due to how the grass affected his plant foot.
“I’ve seen higher,” he stated after the follow. “It’s simply what we've to take care of.”
Now he’s hopeful the brand new grass will probably be stronger and trigger fewer issues.
“The Bermuda has all the time been a shorter grass. It’s not that lengthy one, the crabgrass that it’s been up to now,” Santos stated. “You may see extra of the ball. The plant foot is tighter.
“The opposite one, the grass bought ripped out too simply. They only got here at halftime and put sand down. It simply turns into a sandy subject that they spray painted inexperienced. So (now) it turns into a floor that’s utilized in quite a lot of locations.”
Bermuda grass is understood to be higher for hotter climates, however Soldier Subject spokesman Luca Serra stated its success at colder-weather stadiums, together with in Kansas Metropolis and Baltimore, helped to sway stadium and Bears decision-makers, who used Carolina Inexperienced Company to sod.
Eberflus stated the Indianapolis Colts had Bermuda grass of their follow facility. Santos kicked on it in Kansas Metropolis, the place Bears normal supervisor Ryan Poles spent his earlier 13 seasons.
“(The Chiefs) are in related climate,” Santos stated. “They'd a heating system beneath the sphere to maintain it heat. So I’ve been aware of that, and the Bermuda is a greater grass to kick. It’s simply on this chilly, in case you can develop it and defend it, then it’s a fantastic factor.”
Soldier Subject’s Kentucky bluegrass floor usually was resodded one to a few occasions per season, and will probably be a feeling-out course of for the Bears and Soldier Subject crews how typically and when resodding will probably be achieved this season.
Rye seed first is added because the climate will get colder so the grass turns into a little bit of a hybrid. A later winter would assist the Bermuda grass last more at Soldier Subject, which additionally has a heating system to assist preserve the grass.
Serra stated Carolina Inexperienced took acres of grass and grew it on plastic trays, a tactic that helped strengthen the grass earlier than it was dropped at Chicago. Resodding lower than per week earlier than the opener is pretty typical, Serra stated, and the Bears had been happy with the way it turned out.
Santos stated he'll try Friday the way it turned out. He isn’t the one Bears participant excited in regards to the change.
“I deliver like 5 pairs of cleats each week, so perhaps I can simply follow the one pair,” tight finish Cole Kmet stated. “I’m glad to listen to we’re switching it up slightly bit. And I believe that may profit the gamers for certain and in a security sense as properly.”
()