Why Bears TE Cole Kmet wasn't utilized more in Week 1

The Chicago Bears offense struggled in their Week 1 debut against the Tennessee Titans, where they amassed just 148 total yards of offense and failed to score a touchdown. By comparison, the defense and special teams each scored a touchdown to help mount a 24-17 comeback win.

The big stories are quarterback Caleb Williams' shaky start, which isn't exactly surprising given he's a rookie, and the offensive line struggle. But there was also surprise at how tight end Cole Kmet was utilized on offense.

Kmet was targeted just once -- one reception for four yards -- throughout the game, which was odd for the team's second-leading receiver leader from last season. Comparing Kmet's usage to new addition Gerald Everett, Kmet saw 27 reps compared to Everett's 34.

So why wasn't Kmet utilized more against the Titans? And can we expect him to be more involved moving forward?

“Situationally, we had 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, three receivers) when he was in and then when (Everett) was in,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “So, it was the way the rotation happened. Certainly do we want to get Cole involved in the plan more in terms of catches and point-of-attack blocking and all those things? Yes, yes we do. But we’re looking for our formula for success on offense, and again, that’s going to take a little bit of time in terms of distributing the ball to the skill more evenly, and we’re working to do that this week.”

Kmet, who had 73 receptions for 719 yards and six touchdowns in 2023, made it clear that he'd like to be on the field more contributing. But he also understands that it's out of his hands as the offense works to find its balance.

“It is what it is,” Kmet said. “I don’t know what else to say. It wasn’t a great showing offensively. We got a new quarterback, a new offensive system … and we’re trying to put things together here. We’ve got a lot of new guys in. We’re figuring it out for sure. We’ll see where it goes this week.

“(Deciding playing time) is not my lane. So, I don’t dictate who goes out there and who doesn’t. I can only control what I do when I’m out there. I’m a guy, I want to play. I want to be out there and I’ve shown that over the past couple seasons, high snap-count percentages. I think I have shown I am capable of handling that as well. I understand taking a little bit of a load off to maintain health throughout the season. But like I said, I want to be a guy who is out there and doing things for the teams.”

With rookie receiver Rome Odunze's status uncertain for Sunday night, as he deals with a Grade 1 MCL sprain, we could certainly see more of Kmet in the passing game when the Bears battle the Houston Texans on Sunday Night Football.

This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Why Bears TE Cole Kmet wasn't utilized more in Week 1