Kmet ‘normal’ after injury scare
Bears tight was back at practice Thursday and is expected to play with the rest of the healthy starters in the preseason finale. Kmet was carted back to the building after getting hurt in practice Wednesday, but it turned out to be a brief scare.
“He’s normal,” coach Matt Eberflus said, though he declined to give any information on what the issue was. “He’s all squared away. He’s fine. There’s nothing wrong there. Cole is as normal as he can be.”
Kmet appeared to be a full participant in practice.
That’s good news for a team that just committed $50 million in a contract extension and expects Kmet to play a central role in the offense.
He caught 50 passes for 544 yards and a career-best seven touchdowns last season and was targeted a team-high 69 times.
Long-term issues?
The Bears have had several key players miss extended time during training camp, and those injuries have dragged beyond Eberflus’ initial day-to-day designation.
Safety Jaquan Brisker is coming up on the three-week mark since he practiced, wide receiver Chase Claypool has been out since hurting his hamstring more than two weeks ago and safety Eddie Jackson hasn’t practiced since Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman collided with him during joint practices last week.
Brisker, Claypool and Jackson missed practice Thursday, too, but Eberflus maintained he is “confident” none of them are in question for the season opener against the Packers on Sept. 10.
Steadying Stevenson
Rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson is one of the most important draft picks
— a second-rounder at No. 56 overall — of general manager Ryan Poles’ rebuild, and the Bears are trying to develop him into an instant starter.
Composure is one aspect of that, and Stevenson has been baited into multiple conflicts with other players during practices. The Bears have backed him, saying his attitude is reflective of the identity they’re trying to create, and Stevenson said he’s not a liability for personal fouls in games.
“Intensity’s really a part of this game, and I’m always going to bring it, but just I’ve got to know where the line is, not to go over it to cause harm to the team,” he said. “I haven’t overstepped yet . . . I understand where I’m at and how I’ve got to move to play this game.”
Relying on Davis
The Bears spent $30 million to sign right guard Nate Davis to a three-year deal as part of Poles’ offensive line overhaul, but they haven’t seen him practice much. Davis missed two weeks of voluntary offseason practice and has spent much of training camp on the sideline. After being out again Thursday, Eberflus said he is “day-to-day.”
That’s problematic for an offensive line that wants to establish continuity, but Eberflus “feels good” about him staying on track because Davis has played 55 games over the last four seasons.