Chicago Sports Tonight: The Offseason - Ep. 14
LAKE FOREST, Ill. - The moment was well-documented on all forms of social media and stories everywhere.
Ben Johnson got right into tight end Cole Kmet's face on the second day of offensive installation at OTAs. Johnson, very clearly, made it known what Kmet was doing wasn't good enough.
"It was probably an alignment thing or something; I was probably a yard off," Kmet said. "I think that's just an example of Ben not letting up on those things, making sure everybody's on the details."
"It all comes from a good place."
Kmet has bought into what Johnson's offense can bring to the Chicago Bears. With Johnson being Kmet's third head coach during his Bears tenure, that's not an easy sell for a tight end who is a part of the team's long-term future.
Considering how their relationship began, it's easy to see how Kmet might think otherwise.
'Taken aback':
When Johnson took over the Chicago Bears, it was seen as a massive boon for a guy like Kmet. Why wouldn't it be?
For starters, he's the brightest young offensive mind in the game. That should excite any Bears offensive starter.
The icing on the proverbial cake was how Johnson highlighted his time in Detroit with the extensive use of 12-personnel, meaning multiple tight end sets and schemes. That meant a need for Kmet.
Then, came draft night.
With the 10th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Bears took tight end Colston Loveland. It was a move that took Kmet by surprise, especially since he's going to be a part of the Bears' future after he signed a four-year, $50 million contract extension in 2023.
"At first, you're taken aback a little bit," Kmet said. Shortly after, Johnson helped the fifth-year veteran out of Notre Dame see a vision of cohabitation with a Michigan product.
"From there you're just all on board and you understand their vision," Kmet said. "You understand that there's going to be areas where we complement each other, then there's obviously – just like an any position room – there's going to be areas where we compete for things. That's football and that's how it should be. I'm excited about it."
Kmet is coming off a year when his numbers regressed. He caught 73 passes for 719 yards and six scores in 2023, only to watch that dip to 47 receptions for 474 and four touchdowns in 2024.
With Johnson leading the offense, Kmet will have his chances even with Loveland expected to be a big part of the unit.
'They respect him':
Looking back on the OTAs play where Johnson got in his face, Kmet could only laugh in retrospect.
It wasn't because of how fleeting the moment was. It was because of what happened next.
"It's funny on that play, like with the alignment, I'm kind of cheating myself out of getting the ball the way I was aligned," Kmet said. "Afterwards, he was kind of joking me saying, ‘I was trying to get you the football.'"
It might have been intense at the moment, but plenty of Bears will tell you that's the norm for Johnson's coaching style.
Johnson knows how valuable Kmet is to this team as a player who has seen change before, knows how to adapt to it and knows ways to help his teammates adapt to it, too.
"I believe he's been here the longest out of anybody on the roster right now, and you can tell that they respect him for that," Johnson said. "He's done things the right way for a long time. It's been great, not just him learning the offense, but helping others in the process, as well."
Adapting to that change will take time, and Kmet didn't shy away from it. There will be more days when he'll be just off with his alignment here, or a small detail will be off there.
He just has to trust Johnson's vision, which includes a top-10 pick at tight end and a resume that includes turning around the Detroit Lions.
So far, Kmet has bought in. Especially when he knows only very few NFL teams sustain success at a high level for long periods of time. Johnson is convincing the longest-tenured Bear that can happen in Chicago.
"You understand it's part of being in the NFL," Kmet said. "I'm optimistic that this will be the last time that we do these crazy changes, at least in my career hopefully."
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