advertisement

Chicago Bears' Barth familiar with kicker competition

BOURBONNAIS - If incumbent Chicago Bears place-kicker Connor Barth responds as well to the competition from newly signed Roberto Aguayo as he did in Monday's practice, he will have no trouble keeping his job.

In the most kicker-intensive practice of training camp, Barth was perfect on all 12 field-goal attempts under gamelike conditions. He connected from, in order, 30, 32, 37, 38, 40, 41, 28, 42, 45, 31, 23 and 53 yards.

"Connor had a great day," Bears coach John Fox said.

Aguayo was suited up but did not attempt any kicks in his first practice with his new team.

Asked if his performance was a response to the challenge from the same kicker who replaced him at Tampa after the 2016 draft, Barth said: "Well, what else am I supposed to do, you know? If I keep kicking like I did (Monday), hopefully things will work out - if not here, somewhere else."

Fox said the situation at place-kicker is no different from any other position.

"We're trying to improve our football team and trying to make it competitive," Fox said. "(Aguayo) is a guy that we had high grades on as he was coming (out for the draft)."

Barth says it's just part of the deal.

"There's two ways you can take it," he said. "You can either have a mental breakdown and go into a hole and it's over, or you can step up and like my parents have always said, 'Bring on the competition.' And that's what I've always done."

Aguayo was taken in the second round (59th overall) of the draft by Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers cut Barth days after drafting Aguayo, who hit 88.5 percent of his field-goal attempts at Florida State.

"Roberto's a great talent," Barth said. "He was one of the best, if not the best, to come out of college football."

But after missing an extra point and a 47-yard field goal in the Bucs' preseason opener, Aguayo was cut Saturday.

He hit just 22 of 31 FG attempts last year as a rookie, amid speculation that the pressure of being such a high draft pick affected his performance. His 71 percent accuracy was easily the lowest in the league, and his longest field goal of 43 yards was the shortest best kick in the league.

"It's unfortunate," the 23-year-old Aguayo said. "What we both wanted, it just never flourished. I'm excited to be here with the Bears, and I'm excited for this fresh opportunity and a new start.

"It always came (up), being a second-round pick. Right now, I just focus on being in the present and what I've got to do here."

Barth was good on 78.3 percent of his FG tries last year for the Bears, his fourth NFL team in eight seasons. But that was the second-lowest percentage of his career, during which he has hit 84.0 percent of his attempts.

When camp started the Bears had kicker Andy Phillips on the roster, but he was cut last week. In the preseason opener, Barth connected on his only FG try, from 25 yards, and converted both extra points. He said competition isn't unusual for him.

"It's something I've dealt with my whole career," he said. "I don't think I've ever been in training camp without competition.

"For our position, you're kind of competing against yourself (anyway). It doesn't really matter what Roberto does, because if I don't kick well, then I won't be anywhere."

The Bears signed Barth a week before the 2016 season started, two days after parting ways with Robbie Gould.

The 31-year-old Barth summed up the situation for himself and for Aguayo.

"It's a performance-based business," he said. "If you don't do it, you're not going to be anywhere. You've just got to go out there and perform."

• Follow Bob's Bears reports on Twitter @BobLeGere.

Trubisky's solid play opens door for Bears starting QB debate

Bears coach Fox on his QBs: 'We don't do comparisons'

Kyle Long dismissed from Bears practice for fighting

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.