Chicago Bears TE Cole Kmet says his special teams award probably irked some NFL long snappers

LAKE FOREST – Cole Kmet feels a little bit guilty.

During the Week 6 win over Jacksonville in London, the Chicago Bears tight end had to serve as the emergency long snapper after long snapper Scott Daly went down with a knee injury. Kmet twice caught touchdown passes, then snapped the football on the extra point.

His pinch hitting at the long snapper position earned him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors. Considering that long snappers do the job every single week for all 32 NFL teams across the league, Kmet felt a little guilty.

“I think there might be some pretty pissed off long snappers throughout the league, but yeah I’ll take it,” said Kmet, speaking Monday at Halas Hall for the first time since earning the award. “Pretty cool and obviously a cool award to get, regardless. Just kind of makes that day a little more memorable, I guess.”

Kmet served as the long snapper on five extra points. The Bears attempted one field goal, which was blocked, with Kmet snapping. The 25-year-old Lake Barrington native was pretty relieved that the Bears never had to punt once he took over long snapping duties.

Kmet said after the game that he, his dad and his brother would mess around in the backyard doing all manner of football skills. That included long snapping. Kmet’s uncle, Jeff Zgonina, also learned to snap during his 17-year NFL career.

“It was kind of like, the more you can do,” Kmet said. “Thinking, like, if you ever needed to make a team, if you’re a guy that’s the 54th or 55th guy, and they are deciding between two guys, having that ability, they are going to keep you on the roster.”

Fortunately for Kmet, now in his fifth season, his career has allowed him to avoid being at the fringe of the Bears roster. The skill, though, came in handy.

Kmet was a long snapper in high school and the Bears knew that when they drafted him. NFL teams are always coming up with contingency plans. Most teams carry only one long snapper on the 53-man roster. So every team has a designated emergency long snapper and an emergency holder.

Kmet takes a few long snapper reps during every Thursday practice ahead of a Sunday game. When he returned to Halas Hall on Monday following the bye week, special teams coordinator Richard Hightower made sure Kmet watched the tape on his snaps, too.

NFL teams study everything, even if the hope is that Kmet won’t be put in that position again this season.

I thought they looked all right, to be honest with you. I was looking at the [operation] times. They were a little higher than they usually have been, but yeah we got the job done on most of them.

—  Cole Kmet, Bears tight end

“I thought they looked all right, to be honest with you,” Kmet said. “I was looking at the [operation] times. They were a little higher than they usually have been, but yeah, we got the job done on most of them. I know the one field goal got blocked. I thought I did all right, considering I’m not actually a long snapper.”

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said Daly, the usual long snapper, participated in the team’s walkthrough on Monday. So he’s hopeful Daly will be back for Sunday’s game at Washington.

Daly was already a late addition coming out of training camp. Regular long snapper Patrick Scales has been on injured reserve with a back injury since late August. Asked for an update on Scales’ timeline for return, Eberflus kept his answer vague.

“We’re hopeful there, but I know that he’s in a good spot,” Eberflus said. “Him and I talk at least once a week. I see him in the building or I see him in the training room. I’ll go visit with him there. He’s in a good spot mentally right now, so we’ll see where that goes.”

Prior to the back injury, Scales had appeared in 99 consecutive Bears games (101 including playoff games). That included every game since the start of the 2018 season.