Cole Kmet earns NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors

CHICAGO (WGN) — After stepping up to fill in as the Chicago Bears’ emergency long snapper, tight end Cole Kmet was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 6, according to a press release from the NFL League Office.

Patrick Scales, the Bears’ original starting long snapper, started the 2024 season on injured reserve, which led to the team signing Scott Daly to fill in while he was out.

Daly played 42 games across three seasons with the Detroit Lions, where he was also placed on injured reserve for the last 8 games of the 2023 regular season.

Daly lasted until a little more than three minutes remaining in the first quarter of Chicago’s game in London versus the Jacksonville Jaguars. With Daly out, Kmet was inserted as the Bears’ emergency long snapper, and it went about as well as the team could have hoped for.

Kmet successfully snapped on all five of Chicago’s point-after attempts, including two on plays that directly followed his own two touchdown receptions.

This is the first career Player of the Week Award for Kmet, who became the fifth tight end to earn Special Teams Player of the Week honors in league history. Kmet is also the first Notre Dame tight end to win a Player of the Week award in the NFL.

The Bears have a bye in Week 7 before traveling to play the Washington Commanders (4-2) at FedEx Field the following Sunday.

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