NEWSLETTER
There are few things that get NFL Twitter riled up as a player leaving practice on a cart. So often, a player going away on a cart during practice is done out of an abundance of caution. And I imagine that was the case when Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet left Wednesday’s practice on a cart with an apparent injury.
But one day later, Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus said Kmet was back to normal. And all was right with the football world:
Whew. What a relief it is to see that whatever injury caused Kmet to leave Wednesday’s practice isn’t something keeping him off the practice field today. I’ll breathe easier knowing that an important piece of the Bears’ offensive puzzle isn’t dealing with a long-term injury. Considering how many other key cogs have been unavailable at practice, I’ll take the win of a healthy Kmet back at practice. It might not be a big win, but we celebrate ’em all around here (no matter how big or small).
Frankly, I’d consider it a big thing that Cole Kmet is “back to normal” at practice. The last thing any of us want is Kmet unavailable. Particularly after signing that hefty $50 million extension back in July.
CHECK IT OUT: Cole Kmet is Just Outside the Top 10 of ESPN’s Tight End Rankings
Unfortunately, the list of Bears players not participating in Thursday’s practice is still kin to a CVS receipt (in terms of being unnecessarily long):
The list is so long that Twitter (or X, if you so prefer) cuts it off. In addition to Eddie Jackson, Jaquan Brisker, Chase Claypool, Velus Jones Jr., Darnell Wright, Nate Davis, and Lucas Patrick’s absences that are mentioned in the post above by NBC Sports Chicago’s Josh Schrock, there were a handful of others who weren’t practicing. That group includes DeMarcus Walker, Teven Jenkins, Josh Blackwell, DeMarquis Gates, Dante Pettis, Joe Reed, Dylan Cole, Trestan Ebner, and Jaylon Jones. Overall, it is still a group with a bunch of starters (Jackson, Brisker, Claypool, Wright, Davis, Jenkins, Patrick, Walker), some key reserves possibly battling for roster spots (Cole, Ebner, Jones, Gates, Blackwell), and the other top punt return option (Pettis).
But, hey, we did see the return of Yannick Ngakoue, Marcedes Lewis, and D’Onta Foreman. Those three figure to be key figures in one way or another this season. So it wasn’t all bad on the injury front. I’d go as far as to say that the uptick in participation (however small) has me feeling as if the arrow is pointing up. Or, at a minimum, pointing an encouraging direction.
