A Week 7 win over the New England Patriots for the Chicago Bears was dampened by a late-game knee injury for tight end Cole Kmet, which has since been confirmed to be a season-ender for him.
Kmet doesn't often light up the stat sheet alongside Colston Loveland, but he does play a key role in the Bears' offense. No team combines two or three tight ends on the field quite like head coach Ben Johnson does, in terms of frequency as well as alignment, and Kmet's ability to do it all will be greatly missed.
The question becomes how the Bears will adjust to Kmet's absence. Rookie Sam Roush will move up a spot on the depth chart, but after him things look thin at tight end right now. Stephen Carlson and Qadir Ismail are on the practice squad, and undrafted rookie Hayden Large has been on IR all season to this point.
During Johnson's virtual press conference on Friday, Kmet's absence was naturally a prominent topic.
Ben Johnson reveals one potential adjustment to Cole Kmet's absence
Asked how Kmet being out impacts his playbook, Johnson said he does not foresee any notable changes, since the remaining pieces at tight end have been trained to be able to do "all the jobs". But he did suggest something that could be added to the equation.
"I think one solution could be, if Ozzy (Trapilo) continues to trend up, then maybe we could do more jumbo, too,” Johnson said. “It’s not something we've really had to lean into, but there’s a lot of solutions out there to make sure we can still run the ball, pass protect...”
Trapilo made a very fast return from the ruptured patellar tendon he suffered in last year's playoffs. He has suited up for each of the last two games, with 35 total snaps at left tackle and one snap as what the charting outlets would label an in-line tight end.
Whenever he's ready to take on starter-level snaps, Trapilo will undoubtedly take over full-time at left tackle for the Bears. But in the meantime, he could certainly serve as a sixth offensive lineman in those jumbo packages. Or if he technically steps in at left tackle, Theo Benedet would stay on the field as the extra lineman in those packages.
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Johnson and his offensive staff will find multiple ways they can adjust to Kmet being out. Maybe we see more "11" personnel, or maybe we see a little more of two running backs on the field at the same time. Having a sixth offensive lineman at times is certainly in play, and a trick play that would feature said lineman definitely can't be ruled out.
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