Kmet on his historic day catching two touchdowns and long snapping |
LONDON, U.K. - Tight end
Cole Kmet had a good time in his first game in London. Kmet was Chicago’s leading receiver, recording five receptions for 70 yards and two touchdowns. However, what was perhaps more remarkable than his two touchdowns was the fact that he was the long snapper on both of the extra points after his touchdowns after long snapper Scott Daly went down with a knee injury.
Special teams is not Kmet’s specialty. However, he does have a little experience as a long snapper from high school; his uncle also played the position. He also practiced as a long snapper with his brother to increase his versatility. Chicago discovered his history with the long snapper position, which is how he became Chicago’s emergency long snapper. “You got to do what you got to do. There’s only so many guys you can dress on game day and only so many guys that can have (on) the roster. So, you got to have somebody that can be the emergency and I’m that guy, reluctantly at times. But, I get my two or three snaps in on Thursday and we go to Sunday and it’s always my biggest (worry) going into the game and hopefully Scott’s doing alright and everything heals up okay. But, just glad I could go out there and just provide something for the team in that regard,” Kmet said. “They found out I did it in high school. My uncle did it and I remember my dad, (me) and my brother would be messing around, doing in the backyard all the time and it was just kind of like the more you can do thing and thinking if you ever needed to make a team, if you’re a guys that’s the 54 or 55 guy and they’re deciding between two guys that having that ability, they’re going to keep you on the roster for those types of things and obviously, I’m not in that position right now. But, that was kind of the mindset of learning how to do it and I wanted to play in the NFL one day and that was kind of the thing behind it and paid off today I guess. So, I was glad that I could just help where I could.” On his first touchdown of the game which gave Chicago the 7-3 lead during the second quarter, Kmet took a bit of a risk. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams threw a perfect pass to Kmet who barrelled through two defenders and outstretched his arms to score the 31-yard touchdown. Stretching out for the touchdown always creates a risk for a fumble. Kmet has only fumbled three times and didn't want to make it a fourth time. “For my skill set, it’s always trying to run dudes over and that’s kind of how I look at it and trying to get half a man. I remember Jimmy Graham telling me about in anything that we do whether it’s blocking or you’re in pass pro or you’re running routes, you always want to work on half a man and that’s the same thing,” Kmet said. “When you get the ball in your hands, you take a half of a man on him. He’s half his body weight and now I got my full weight and my full speed going at him and so, was able to shed him and I’ll probably get docked for reaching the ball out there for the endzone. But, there was no way I was getting a sniff line either. So, that worked out well.” Throughout his Chicago career, Kmet has played with numerous quarterbacks, including multiple rookies. It seems like Kmet has not yet had a chance to play with a quarterback with Williams's talent level, even though he has taken steps to read defenses and improve as an NFL quarterback. “He’s taken steps every game and I think that’s been evident and I’m sure he’ll tell you he’ll probably want that one throw back that he had to DJ, but I thought besides that, did some really amazing stuff,” Kmet said. “I thought the scramble he had to me was just an unbelievable play and just how he can create and do those type of things and then if they’re going to play man on us like they did a few of the times and things might be a little covered or muddy downfield, he’s able to escape the pocket and get 20, 30 yards on some of those runs. So, he’s just super dynamic. He’s a pass-first guy, but he has that ability to run as well and I think he does a pretty good job of taking care of himself when he does become a runner as well.”
