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Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet wins NFC Special Teams Player of the Week as fill-in long snapper

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Published  October 16, 2024 11:23am CDT
Bears
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After Chicago Bears long snapper Scott Daly went down with a knee injury on Sunday, Cole Kmet stepped in valiantly.

That special teams performance earned Kmet NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors after the Bears' 35-16 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday in London.

"Obviously, it’s pretty dramatic when you lose your short and long snapper," Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said on Monday. "It’s an important part of scoring points and getting the punts off. There was definitely a lot of talk."

It's a vindicating honor for Kmet, whose first reaction to being needed at long snapper was: "Oh s***."

The fourth-year player out of Notre Dame was straightforward in saying how being needed as the emergency long snapper was always Kmet's biggest concern before a game.

"It's always my biggest worry going to the game," Kmet said Sunday. "Hopefully Scott's doing all right and everything heals up okay. But, just glad I could go out there and just provide something to the team in that regard."

It wasn't a foreign concept for Kmet – he long snapped in high school, his uncle long snapped and he remembers the days when his dad and brothers long snapped in the backyards – but it's not his primary function. Especially as Kmet is the Bears' stand out tight end.

Still, Kmet makes sure he practices his long snapping with special teams coordinator Richard Hightower every week.

"He practices it every Thursday," Eberflus said. "After practice he gets with those guys for the long and short snaps and he does a good job. He’s sound in there. I know he’s always concerned that he has to do that. Thankfully, we didn’t punt again after the injury, so we were good. He was good, he was good in there. My hat’s off to him."

Along with being the Bears' long snapper on Sunday, he also caught five passes on five targets for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Jacksonville. 

"He had a really good game in there in terms of his connections," Eberflus said. "Five-for-five, two touchdowns. Him being able to do that as well was instrumental in the victory."