The Bears are optimistic that tight end Cole Kmet’s knee injury isn’t a serious, long-term issue, but apprehensive about him being healthy enough to play Sunday against the Falcons.
Kmet hurt his knee in the second quarter of the Bears’ win over the Cardinals and exited at halftime with a career-high 107 yards on four catches. Players had Monday and Tuesday off, and coach Matt Eberflus said the medical staff will gauge Kmet’s mobility ahead of the first practice of the week Wednesday.
Eberflus said after the game it looked “positive” overall. Kmet has never missed a game.
It doesn’t take much imagination to see where the offense would be without him. With top wide receiver DJ Moore playing through an ankle injury that reduced him to mostly being a decoy and Kmet out, quarterback Justin Fields completed 5 of 10 passes for 35 yards with an interception in the second half.
Moore leads the Bears (and ranks 11th in the NFL) with 1,141 yards receiving, followed by Kmet at 678 yards and six touchdowns on 70 catches. He ranks seventh in catches, eighth in yards and second in touchdowns among tight ends.
In the Cardinals game, none of the next options after Moore and Kmet came through for the Bears. Darnell Mooney caught two passes for five yards, rookie Tyler Scott didn’t get a target, and Fields’ lone throw to Velus Jones was incomplete.
The Bears likely would start and rely on Robert Tonyan if Kmet is out. He had one catch for 14 yards against the Cardinals and has 8 for 72 on the season. Marcedes Lewis, 39, caught his first touchdown pass of the season Sunday on a one-yard throw from Fields. Tonyan and Lewis have each played less than 30% of the snaps this season.
Losing Kmet would be especially challenging given how much the Bears’ passing game has struggled this season. Between Fields and backup Tyson Bagent, the team ranks 28th in yards passing at 182.6 per game. The Bears average 20.9 points per game, 21st in the league.
This week also figures to be more difficult in general since the Falcons are significantly better than the Cardinals, who have allowed the second-most points in the NFL. The Falcons are sixth in points allowed (19.2), 12th in opponent passer rating (86.1), eighth in yards per carry allowed (3.9) and third in opponent third-down conversion percentage (33.7).
