Tag: Cole Kmet

Two former college stars attended Notre Dame at USC

Two former college stars showed up to take in Notre Dame at USC on Saturday.

Chicago Bears rookie quarterback [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag] and his current teammate, former Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end [autotag]Cole Kmet[/autotag], were in attendance Saturday as Notre Dame beat USC 49-35 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Williams had a good reason to be there — his USC jersey number was being retired. Williams wore number 13 during his time at USC.

The Bears were off this weekend, having played against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day. You might remember that game — the Bears badly mismanaged the clock at the end, leading to head coach Matt Eberflus’s dismissal on Friday.

Sideline reporter Jenny Dell did speak to Williams during the CBS broadcast on Saturday, but if Williams addressed the change at head coach for the Bears, this author missed it.

Williams had 72 passing touchdowns at USC and threw for 8,170 yards in two seasons after transferring in from Oklahoma. He also ran for 21 touchdowns.

Nov 3, 2018; Evanston, IL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Cole Kmet (84) makes a catch against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first quarter at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

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Cole Kmet calling out the Bears for laziness over Hail Mary is bleak for Matt Eberflus’ coaching future

Matt Eberflus’ future looks bleak after the Bears’ stunning loss.

The contrast between the reaction of Chicago Bears players and head coach Matt Eberflus after the team’s stunning Hail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders couldn’t be more stark.

While Eberflus gutlessly blames his players for the defeat before later offering up a nonsense explanation of his Hail Mary strategy, superstar cornerback Jaylon Johnson elected to take the high road instead of throwing one of his teammates under the bus.

Now, in a very general fashion, star tight end Cole Kmet claims the Bears were lazy all week in preparation for the Commanders, and the disorganized Hail Mary loss was their reward.

That’s not a great sign for Matt Eberflus:

Kmet can say these are little things that guys just have to take personal responsibility for. That’s his prerogative. However, the fact of the matter is that if a team is losing its focus and edge on a supposedly grand scale, that is a coaching issue. That falls squarely on Eberflus and his staff for allowing a culture of complacency to settle in after the Bears’ recent three-game winning streak.

The Bears have now lost four games where they had a winning percentage of at least 90 percent in the closing moments dating back to 2023. Mix that up with a franchise player like Kmet saying everyone was being lazy, and you’ve got the recipe for a head coach to be on the hot seat.

The Bears have one of the NFL’s most difficult schedules over their 10 next games. Eberflus better hope this whole gettable Commanders fiasco doesn’t cost him his job.

Former Notre Dame tight end named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week

He surely never thought he’d add this to his trophy case.

If anyone proved how versatile they are in the NFL during the past week’s slate of games, it was [autotag]Cole Kmet[/autotag]. The former Notre Dame tight end, now with the Chicago Bears, was pressed into duty he likely never thought actually would come to pass.

While Kmet scored twice and had five receptions for 70 yards in the Bears’ 35-16 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, it was what he did on special teams that caught everyone’s attention.

Already down their primary long snapper, the Bears suddenly were faced with a pickle when backup long snapper Scott Daly was injured in the first quarter. Knowing Kmet was a long snapper in high school, they pressed him into duty for five extra-point attempts and one field-goal attempt.

Kmet’s performance impressed enough that he was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. He is believed to be the first player in NFL history to win the award as a long snapper. The fact that he’s not even a true long snapper makes this even more impressive.

Congratulations to Kmet, and let’s hope he has even more success after the Bears’ bye week.

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Caleb Williams breaks out as Bears pummel Jaguars

Caleb Williams had a huge game as the Bears belted the Jaguars

The first overall pick in the 2024 draft had a huge game in his first NFL international experience.

Caleb Williams put on a show for the Chicago Bears on Sunday in their 35-16 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

The 2023 Heisman winner from USC threw four touchdown passes in the romp. He was 23-of-29 for 226 yards, connecting with Cole Kmet and Keenan Allen each for two touchdowns.

Williams excelled in the quick passing game.

He also showed some magic that made people look at him as a generational player at USC.

The Jaguars, meanwhile, fell to 1-5 and coach Doug Pederson has to hope he doesn’t get the same message Robert Saleh of the Jets rreceived after losing in London: You’re fired!.

Cole Kmet has a huge first half for the Chicago Bears, along with playing a new position

What a half for Kmet!

Former Notre Dame football tight end [autotag]Cole Kmet[/autotag] had himself quite the first half for the Chicago Bears as they faced off against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, England.

The fifth-year player has been very solid for the team that drafted him, but on Sunday, it might have been his best performance of his career in just 30-minutes of football.

Kmet first caught a 31-yard touchdown early in the second quarter to get the Bears on the scoreboard. Then just before the half, another score, this one from 2-yards out to extend the lead.

That wasn’t the most surprising part of his performance, as Chicago’s regular long snapper Scott Daly was injured during the game. Kmet stepped up and took over the duties, and made two perfect snaps on extra points.

While he has been fairly quiet during the second half, the impact that Kmet had on this game had already been felt. What a Sunday for the former Irish star.

Oct 13, 2024; London, United Kingdom; Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet (85) celebrates scoring a touchdown with teammates during an NFL International Series game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter van den Berg-Imagn Images

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Battle of ex-Notre Dame tight ends in Chicago turns out to be quiet

Two former Notre Dame tight ends faced off in Chicago Sunday.

Notre Dame fans who also follow the NFL may have taken an interest in Sunday’s game between the Carolina Panthers and the Chicago Bears at Chicago’s Soldier Field.

That’s because Bears tight end Cole Kmet was playing against ex-teammate Tommy Tremble, who is now a Panther. Both played tight end at Notre Dame and both saw action during the same season in 2019.

If Fighting Irish fans were hoping to see the two former teammates out-dueling one another, that didn’t happen. Tremble left the game with an apparent concussion after being targeted just twice. He caught one pass for 7 yards, and he fumbled the ball after that reception. It was the same play in which the concussion appeared to happen.

Sep 25, 2022; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers tight end Tommy Tremble (82) during warm ups at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Kmet, meanwhile, was quiet early but eventually he was targeted four times, catching three of those passes for 57 yards, with a long of 26.

Even if the matchup was quiet, it’s a reminder of how many tight ends Notre Dame has sent to the NFL in recent years.

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Caleb Williams and other Bears offensive leaders embarrassingly had to tell OC Shane Waldron to be more aggressive

Only the Bears could be this embarrassing.

Veteran playmaker Keenan Allen might be back for the Chicago Bears in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Rams, but it doesn’t appear key Chicago players are convinced his return will help their offensive woes that much in 2024.

And they’re letting offensive coordinator Shane Waldron know it.

According to Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer, Caleb Williams, Cole Kmet, and Marcedes Lewis met with Waldron this week to tell him he needs to coach and call plays more aggressively. Uh, yeah, that’s never what you want to hear about an offense less than a month into the season. I’m talking about both having the private meeting with their coach and the kinda alarming critical message.

https://twitter.com/nflonfox/status/1840425485550977355

Waldron, of course, is in his first year as Chicago’s lead offensive mind. While he had a good reputation with the Seattle Seahawks in recent years, a combination of Williams’ learning curve as a rookie and a bunch of different moving parts have led the Bears to one of the NFL’s worst statistical offenses so far.

To Waldron’s credit, he appears receptive to this kind of criticism. Earlier this week, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Waldron had spent significant time highlighting some of his worst play calls and taking responsibility for them in front of his players. That might be no small thing.

At the very least, it seems the Bears’ offensive leaders and Waldron have a quality back-and-forth dialogue. We’ll see whether it manifests in more points and yards moving forward.

Gimme Him: One player Titans would steal from Bears

If the Tennessee Titans could take one player from the Chicago Bears, who would it be?

The Tennessee Titans will kick off the 2024 season by traveling to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field this Sunday afternoon.

That, of course, provides those of us here at Titans Wire the opportunity to hypothetically steal from the Bears’ roster in search of depth and/or talent upgrades.

In looking over the Bears’ roster, there are plenty of options available. In many ways, they, like the Titans, are looking to surprise this season with a combination of youth and seasoned veterans. Between skilled playmakers and some solid defensive options, a player can be had from any position.

Many would think quarterback Caleb Williams would be a tempting option. But with a young quarterback already in the fold, staying with someone with experience in the system makes more sense. There are also wide receivers DJ Moore and Keenan Allen, running back D’Andre Swift, offensive tackle Darnell Wright, defensive end Montez Sweat, and cornerback Jaylon Johnson; the Bears are talented across the board.

Although Wright was a close second, ultimately, we’re going with tight end Cole Kmet.

Why Kmet?  The tight end is a young quarterback’s best friend. Coming off a 2023 season where he pulled in 73 balls for 719 yards and six touchdowns, Kmet would give quarterback Will Levis a dynamic safety blanket.

The Titans kept five tight ends on the initial 53-man roster, but the team wouldn’t need that many with Kmet in the fold.  He is a true tight end that would easily be TE1 on the depth chart.

What are your thoughts, Titans fans? Would you pick Cole Kmet or steal an entirely different player from the Chicago Bears?

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Watch: Former Notre Dame football star Cole Kmet throw out 1st pitch for the Chicago Cubs

Kmet still has a great arm

It’s not just Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman that gets to throw out first pitches, former Irish star tight end [autotag]Cole Kmet[/autotag] has had his chances too.

On Wednesday, the current Chicago Bears player got the opportunity to throw out the first pitch for the Chicago Cubs. As we all know, Kmet loves baseball, having played some in South Bend before giving it up and focusing on football.

Since he has that background, it was not surprising to see Kmet throw a very solid pitch, even if he may not have picked up a baseball in a very long time.

We hope to see Kmet hit some home runs, I mean score touchdowns this fall for the Bears. If he does, we get to see his patented home run celebration.

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Former Notre Dame tight end throws out first pitch for Chicago Cubs

Dude still can throw off a mound.

Former Notre Dame tight end [autotag]Cole Kmet[/autotag] is entering his fifth season with the Chicago Bears. He’ll look to add to his 15 career NFL touchdowns with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams added to the mix. Training camp definitely will help with that.

But Kmet and the Bears had a day off, so Kmet, who grew up in nearby Lake Barrington, Illinois, decided to have some fun. Specifically, he decided to say yes to throwing out the first pitch before the hometown Chicago Cubs battled the Milwaukee Brewers. Luckily for us, the whole thing was captured on video:

As you can gather, Kmet threw it a little outside to Clark the Cub. Here’s a closer view of the pitch:

If he looks like he could have gone for a baseball career, it’s true. Many Irish fans probably know that Kmet also was on Notre Dame’s baseball team. In two seasons with that team, he recorded 10 saves and accumulated a 2-7 record along with a 4.43 ERA over 34 games.

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