New Long Snapper Begins Work After Patrick Scales' Injury

The Bears have Scott Daly practicing now as a member of the practice team and will have him active as injury replacement for Patrick Scales, and the future will take care of the rest.

Long snapper Scott Daly comes out of the Lions locker room with punter Jack Fox (3) and kicker Riley Pattrson (36). / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Bears have long snapper Scott Daly on the practice squad now, to be activated for the first game and how long he's around can depend on two things.

One is how well the former Lions long snapper snaps and the other is the health of long snapper Patrick Scales, who is having minor back surgery.

"We like him a lot, played against him a ton," Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said. "Veteran. Snaps a really good ball. Really, in our personal opinion, he's one of the 32 in the league."

At 36 years old, Scales is playing a position where veteran experience matters but he still needs to be athletic enough to get downfield in punt coverage. As coach Matt Eberflus said, players can lose jobs due to injuries and it happens all the time. It's just up to replacements to perform better.

From the desk of @p_scales 📝 pic.twitter.com/YAujWbMxVi

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 5, 2024

Daly was put on their practice squad Wednesday when they also brought back fullback Khari Blasingame for the regular roster. The change in operation of the field goal and extra points is significant and affects punter/holder Tory Taylor and kicker Cairo Santos.

"Now it's all about Cairo and Tory developing that relationship and that bond together," Hightower said. "Because that's a critical piece of our teams because it deals with points. And points are how you win games. So those three will develop that relationship and try to put points on the board for our team."

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There are technical points to be ironed out.

"It's something we're going to have to work on," Hightower said. "It is extremely challenging. I'm not going to sugarcoat it.

"A lot of people think that you just snap, hold, kick and the ball goes through the uprights. But there are a lot of different things that play into that. The laces. The lean on the ball. The wind. How you tilt the ball can change the direction and the flight pattern of the ball. How you snap it can change that. How you hold the ball can change that. The steps in the kicker's operation can change that."

The Bears had Cameron Lyons on the roster as a backup long snapper throughout training camp but released him during this week's roster cutdown.

"He didn’t keep the job," Hightower said. "But I still think he’ll snap in this league."

As for Scales and his current streak of 99 straight games and 120 total Bears games played, whether there are more remains uncertain.

"Like, he's going to work, he's going to work to try to get back, you know, but I don't have the answer for that," Hightower said. "I don't have a crystal ball on that one."

Scales will still be around rehabbing.

"He's the glue in that (special teams) room, honestly," Hightower said. "So he will be missed. But this is pro football. And Pat wants us to go forward. That was our last conversation I had with Pat. Pat wants noting but for the unit to look good because he cares so much about the team. That's the kind of teammate he is.

"He wants to score points and he wants to win. And I want to win. So Pat understands that everyone is still in full support of him as well."

Khari Blasingame appreciation post.

Look at the block he provides Johnson here.

Huge part to why Chicago’s running game has been top-2 the last couple seasons pic.twitter.com/SgCYQV2HYb

— Just Another Year Chicago: Bears (@JAYChi_Bears) July 1, 2024

Twitter: BearsOnSI