As reporters swarmed Bears kicker Eddy Pineiro at Halas Hall on Thursday, teammates jabbed locker neighbor Ted Larsen about the media bypassing him to talk to the kicker.
“Hey,” Larsen fired back. “Eddy leads the team in points.”
That’s true, but it’s a touchy subject. Pineiro was the only one who scored in the Bears’ season-opening loss to the Packers and said, “It doesn’t feel good. We want to score touchdowns.”
Nonetheless, the night was a milestone for Pineiro. He got through his first game with the Bears, his NFL debut, without incident and made good on the only kick they gave him: a 38-yarder from the right hash that drew a roar from the sold-out crowd at Soldier Field.