Cole Kmet's work doesn't end when he leaves the practice field.
Driven to be great, the Bears' second-year tight end watches more film than a movie reviewer and plans to spend an hour Thursday night studying tape with coach Matt Nagy and tight ends coach Clancy Barone.
"He's been phenomenal with that," Nagy said. "Tonight, we're getting together for an hour. We're going to watch some tape. That was him coming to me because he wants that. So, that's pretty cool, when you have a guy that wants to do that and get together. We'll get together with Clancy and the three of us will fire through the film and just go through stuff [in the] run and pass game."
With no offseason practices or preseason games in 2020 due to COVID-19, Kmet was eased into action as a rookie after being selected by the Bears in the second round of the draft from Notre Dame. But he took advantage of expanded playing time late in the season, catching 20 passes for 149 yards in the final five games after recording eight receptions for 94 yards in the first 11 contests.
As Kmet looks to pick up this season where he left off last year, Nagy wasn't surprised that the tight end wanted to watch film with his head coach and position coach.
"That's who he is; he wants to grow," Nagy said. "He's done that. He's shown it in training camp. I think you're going to really see his production go up—and not always just in the passing game. I think you'll see him be a better blocker. He's a hell of a teammate. Him and Jimmy [Graham] and that tight end room, they really are clicking. Jimmy's done an unbelievable job mentoring him, so it'll be neat to see."
Trevathan given time to heal
Nagy revealed that veteran linebacker Danny Trevathan did not injure his knee in last Saturday night's preseason finale in Tennessee but had been suffering from knee soreness during training camp.
The Bears placed Trevathan on injured reserve Wednesday, which will sideline him for the first three games of the season. The Bears are hopeful that the rest will help Trevathan recover and return to action.
"We want to get him to a point to where he can get back to that full 100 percent," Nagy said. "You saw he missed some time there in training camp. It was good to be able to get him out there in that last preseason game and see what he can do. That was the best thing for us right now, and Danny understands that."
The Bears are fortunate to be deep and experienced at inside linebacker with a pair of veteran reserves who have combined to make 167 NFL starts in Alec Ogletree (94) and Christian Jones (73). Ogletree has consistently displayed his playmaking ability since signing with the Bears Aug. 4.
"When Alec came in here, he had like seven picks in three days," Nagy said. "He took advantage of an opportunity. He's moved around really well. He's taken to the defense. I think you see that and understand that we appreciate that from him. He took advantage of a great opportunity."
High praise for Hicks
Nagy was pleased with how Akiem Hicks approached training camp and recently shared those feelings with the veteran defensive tackle.
"I grabbed him the other day and I just brought him over and I said how appreciative I am of the way he's handled this training camp," Nagy said. "He is practicing hard. He's being a great leader in the meetings. He's really been awesome.
"I told him: 'Sometimes, we as coaches can always talk about the bad, whether it's what you did wrong in a play, right, or what we need to do here or there across the board. A lot of times, we don't sometimes give enough praise when you just take it for granted.' I said, 'Listen, man, I love your leadership, I love the way you're handling this summer and … it's really neat to see right now where he's at.'"
