In three seasons at Notre Dame, tight end Cole Kmet tasted the bitterness of defeat only five times. The Bears will match that total in October if they can’t beat the Patriots on Monday or the Cowboys next week.
Kmet grew up in the Chicago suburbs, so he certainly knew how exasperating it could be to watch or play for the Bears when they drafted him in 2020. But that doesn’t make it any easier for him to endure the ever-growing pile of losses.
‘‘A lot of us have come from really successful programs and are used to winning a lot, so it is frustrating,’’ Kmet said. ‘‘It’s a black-and-white league where you’re judged off wins and losses, and there’s urgency to it. You understand there’s a process to it. You get tired of hearing that sometimes, but you’ve gotta stick to it and keep coming to work.’’
For Kmet, that ‘‘process’’ has made up all of his young career.
The Bears are 16-23 in the last two-plus seasons. They made the playoffs in 2020, but no one took that 8-8 team seriously. They’re an eight-point underdog against the Patriots and probably won’t be favored again until Week 10 against the Lions.
The Bears have several key young players, such as Kmet, who have known nothing but losing since arriving at Halas Hall, and that’s not an ideal foundation for anyone’s career. At some point, it must be demoralizing. It would be natural for them to wonder whether it will change or whether it will be endless obscurity, like playing for the Jaguars.
Putting in the daily work with no results can wear players down. After getting rocked by the Buccaneers last season, quarterback Justin Fields said, ‘‘I’ve never been in this position, where I’m losing, so I don’t know how to feel.’’ Ohio State was 20-2 in his two seasons as its starter, but he’s 4-12 in the NFL.
Last week, shortly after an embarrassing 12-7 home loss to the Commanders, Fields said he was sick of hearing about how he and the Bears are so close to turning it around.
‘‘Just gotta work harder,’’ he said when he was asked how to withstand the defeats. ‘‘That’s the only thing I know how to do, so just keep going.’’
That was the consensus among him, Kmet, cornerback Jaylon Johnson and receiver Darnell Mooney — all of whom are in their second or third season of Bears sludge. All they can do is keep working.
Playing better would help, too. The Bears would win more games if Fields played like Justin Herbert, if Kmet played like Travis Kelce, if Mooney played like Tyreek Hill and if Johnson played like — actually, he’s doing fine. But they’re all intent on making a bigger contribution.
‘‘It starts with doing your job,’’ said Johnson, whose Utah teams went 27-14. ‘‘I go into each week thinking: ‘How can I do my job better? How can I play a perfect game?’ Until I play a perfect game and intercept every ball and make every tackle, there’s always ways for me to get better.
‘‘It’s tough losing, but there’s never been a breaking point for me where our record caused me mental fatigue or pressure.’’
Mooney’s college experience was probably closest to what he has seen during his two-plus seasons with the Bears. Tulane was 3-9 before he got there, then climbed steadily to 7-6 by the time he left.
His main takeaway was to ‘‘learn from [losing], but don’t get comfortable with it,’’ so he tries to stay optimistic.
‘‘Justin said he’s tired of hearing that we’re this close, but honestly we are,’’ Mooney said. ‘‘At the end of the game, every time, we’ve had the opportunity to win — besides the Green Bay game. I think of the positive, that we are close. So finish the damn game.’’
But after more than two seasons of that frustration?
‘‘I just worry about what I can worry about,’’ Mooney said. ‘‘And get open.’’
