Kmet on developing offensive chemistry: “It’s got to happen quickly” |
LAKE FOREST, I.L. - Tight end Cole Kmet has been on the Bears the longest out of anyone currently on the roster. He has survived Chicago’s coaching and quarterback carousels - playing with quarterbacks Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields, coached by Matt Nagy and then Matt Eberflus. In Eberflus’ third year as a head coach, Kmet will now play with another quarterback in rookie Caleb Williams.
Despite all of the changes, Kmet is excited for the upcoming season. “Obviously, the excitement’s really high. The optimism is really high, and I think those are two of the most special things about going into a football season, and I’m sure all 32 teams are feeling like that in some regard,” Kmet said. “I know for us, at least for me, being here for now going on year five, it’s been a building process and to kind of get to this point to see where the team’s at and see what guys we got on the roster and the coaches we have, it’s really exciting and we’re definitely optimistic about the camp ahead and the season ahead.” Unlike Trubisky and Fields, Williams has already been declared the starting quarterback for the upcoming season. Sometimes, it is beneficial for a quarterback to learn under a veteran for a period of time before becoming the starter. However, that process did not work with Trubisky or Fields. With Kmet’s unique perspective being the only player to play with both on the Bears, he sees a lot of positives in Williams being named the starter already. “I think the beauty of his situation is there’s no doubt here, and he’s the guy going forward. There’s none of this question of when he’s going to get in, are we going to see him this year. You’re going to see him this year. He’s going to be in,” Kmet said. “He’s getting a lot of reps, and I think that’s good for him. Maybe there’s a peace of mind in that aspect. But, like I said, I think a lot of that depends guy-to-guy and I see pros and cons to really both situations.” Even though he is the immediate starter, Williams will still learn from veteran quarterbacks. Tyson Bagent, who won two games for Chicago last season, will be present to help Williams in the quarterback room, as will Brett Rypien, who started his first game in 2020. Kmet compares this to when he was able to learn alongside tight-end Jimmy Graham in his rookie season. “I remember when I had Jimmy (Graham) in the locker room with me, having older guys to lean on to talk to and help you through the process is big time. So, I thought we were able to build a really good rapport with Caleb during the (organized team activity) OTA session and get to know him as a person really well,” Kmet said. “So, you just hope that throughout this whole process, he feels comfortable enough to approach each and every one of us to kind of help guide him through this whole deal he’s going through.” Given Williams is a rookie quarterback, Kmet acknowledges that there is a certain level of patience. However, there is also a certain sense of urgency. For Kmet, that may be particularly strong given he is the only player on the roster to play in a playoff game for the Chicago Bears as the Bears were the No. 7 seed in the playoffs back in 2020. “There’s definitely patience that we have to have with that. There’s going to be a lot coming at Caleb here and obviously, the OTA period is a good jumpstart for that. But, now it gets real with pads on and when he gets to his first live NFL game. Dudes are going to be coming after him. So, that also adds an aspect to it. So, there’s a patience level to it, and obviously, there’s also an urgency level to it, and he’s going to feel that, and that’s just natural with the NFL. So, that is part of it and we just have to be there as teammates to kind of guide him through this process,” Kmet said. “We got to get this thing going quickly. There’s not going to be time to kind of meander through this thing. You got to get this thing going quickly here. So, we got to operate (at) a high level. We got to really take advantage of our walkthroughs when we get these things at night and the better we are through those things, the faster we’ll be able to execute on game day. It’s got to happen quickly.”
