Santos has resurrected his career in Chicago. He converted 84.8 percent of his field-goal attempts (89 of 105) during his first four NFL seasons with the Chiefs from 2014-17. But after aggravating a groin injury in a Week 3 win in 2017, he was placed on injured reserve and then released.
Santos signed with the Bears later that season. He appeared in two games, but he hurt his groin again and landed on injured reserve. He kicked for the Rams and Buccaneers in 2018 and the Titans in 2019 before rejoining the Bears in 2020.
Santos will once again work with long-snapper Patrick Scales, who returns to the Bears for a seventh season. He served as the team’s long-snapper in the final five contests in 2015 and all 16 contests in 2016 before missing the entire 2017 season with a torn ACL he sustained in the third preseason game. Scales has since returned to play in every game each of the past four seasons.
Before joining the Bears, Scales appeared in two regular-season games and two playoff contests with the Ravens in 2014. He entered the NFL in 2011 with Baltimore as an undrafted free agent from Utah State and has also spent time with the Dolphins, Jets and Buccaneers.
The Bears will have a new punter this season. They allowed veteran Patrick O’Donnell to leave via free agency and selected Trenton Gill in the seventh round of the draft out of North Carolina State.
Gill averaged 45.8 yards on 173 punts over the last three seasons. In 2019, he ranked third in the FBS with a school-record 47.6-yard average on 56 punts. Last year the 6-4, 220-pounder was named first-team all-ACC after averaging 45.1 yards on 65 punts. Gill was also a kickoff specialist for three years, producing 114 touchbacks on 198 kickoffs.
Three players who returned punts and kickoffs for the Bears are back this season. Khalil Herbert averaged 24.1 yards on 27 kickoff returns, while Dazz Newsome averaged 12.5 yards on six punt returns and Nsimba Webster averaged 3.3 yards on four punt returns.
The Bears added…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at News…