Cole Kmet, long snapper? Star Bears tight end does it all in big win over Jaguars
LONDON – Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower approached Cole Kmet and told him Scott had gone down.
His mind immediately went to receiver Tyler Scott. While hearing (or, better, mishearing) that was an unwelcome development in his mind, Kmet wasn’t quite sure how it directly impacted him.
Then Hightower told him to go get some snaps in on the sideline.
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Then it clicked. Hightower meant that long snapper Scott Daly was down (with a knee injury).
Kmet was the backup long snapper, a designation that rarely means anything. It’s unusual for long snappers to get hurt, but it happened and left Kmet scrambling to get work in with punter/holder Tory Taylor.
“My biggest nightmare came true today,” Kmet said.
The star tight end handled the assignment fairly well in a 35-16 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
He executed well on his extra point attempts, though he sent a snap slow and high on a field goal attempt that was ultimately blocked at the line of scrimmage. Not too bad for someone who only takes a few snaps each Thursday and then keeps fingers crossed he never has to do so during a game.
This game was won in decently large part due to what Kmet did offensively. He had five catches for 70 yards and two impressive touchdowns. After each touchdown he went to the center of the field and long-snapped extra point attempts.
“That’s elite,” receiver Keenan Allen said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that, having a guy score a touchdown and then do a snap.”
It doesn’t happen often. Rarely ever.
It didn’t impact his regular job, where Kmet was dominant all day. His first touchdown was a doozy. And brilliantly designed. A double fake screen left Kmet wide open in the middle of the field. It was all Kmet after that, as trucked one Jaguars defender and dragged another until he could dive over the pylon.
Kmet scored another touchdown just before the first half to help establish a 21-3 halftime lead. He and Williams have clearly formed a strong connection already, which has led to a surge in his offensive production.
Kmet also contributed in an expected way, well enough that head coach Matt Eberflus didn’t have to alter his decisions due to a long-snapper problem. The Bears punted just twice, before Kmet started long-snapping, which was a relief to someone who wanted to get through his additional assignment without much damage done.
“It’s definitely not a position I envisioned playing in the NFL, ever,” Kmet said. “But you gotta do what you gotta do. There’s only so many guys you can dress on game day and only so many guys you can have on the roster, so you’ve got to have somebody who can be the emergency. I’m that guy, reluctantly at times.
“Getting my two or three snaps in on Thursday and we go to Sunday and it’s always my biggest worry going into the game. Hopefully Scott’s doing all right and everything heals up play. Yeah, just glad I could go out there and just provide something for the team in that regard.”