Cole Kmet wins NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after filling in at long-snapper vs. Jaguars

For the first time in history, a long snapper won the NFC’s Special Teams Player of the Week award. Even more unique, Cole Kmet – a tight end – brought home the honor after scoring two touchdowns.

Kmet had to snap six times in the Chicago Bears’ victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. The Bears were already down to their backup long snapper in fellow Notre Dame alum Scott Daly, but he went down with a knee injury. That meant Kmet had to step in as the emergency snapper, and he handled five extra-point attempts as well as one field goal from Cairo Santos.

Of course, two of those PATs came after Kmet found the end zone. He and Caleb Williams connected on an impressive 31-yard pass in the second quarter, and he later found paydirt again on a two-yard pass from Williams in the first half.

All told, Kmet had five receptions for 70 yards and two touchdowns. But his ability to step in and long-snap without issue helped earn him the NFC’s Special Teams Player of the Week award – adding a unique honor to his resume.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus praised Kmet’s two-way effort in the victory. He noted the importance of the long-snapper position, which added to the impressive nature of his performance.

“It’s pretty dramatic when you lose your short and long snapper,” Eberflus said, via ChicagoBears.com’s Larry Mayer. “It’s an important part of scoring points and getting the punts off. There was definitely a lot of talk [on the sideline] … He was good in there. My hat’s off to him.”

Cole Kmet continues to take on a key role in the Bears offense as the franchise enters a new era with Caleb Williams at quarterback. He – like the unit as a whole – started out slow, but the former Notre Dame star is starting to emerge as an important weapon. Through six games, Kmet has 26 receptions for 289 yards and three touchdowns as Chicago enters its bye week following its trip to London.

But in the NFL, you have to be ready for anything. That’s why Kmet said he snaps a few times late in the week before game day to be prepared to step in.

“Definitely not a position I envisioned playing in the NFL, ever,” Kmet said. “But you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do and there’s only so many guys you can dress on gameday, and only so many guys that you can have on the roster. You have to have somebody that can be the emergency and I’m that guy, reluctantly, at times. I get my two or three snaps in on Thursday [in practice], and we go to Sunday.”