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Quick Hits: Kmet more involved in pass game

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Tight end Cole Kmet was more involved in the Bears offense last Sunday against the Packers than he had been in previous weeks, catching four passes for a career-high 49 yards.

The 2020 second-round pick from Notre Dame made a key reception on both Bears touchdown drives, hauling in passes of 15 and 21 yards from rookie quarterback Justin Fields.

Asked if it felt good to be targeted more in the passing game, Kmet said: "It did, yeah, [to] finally get some stuff downfield and whatnot, the stuff I like doing as a tight end, just big body catches and things like that. Hopefully we can kind of continue with that this week."

Coach Matt Nagy hopes the Bears will continue to feed their tight ends as the offense keeps growing and developing.

"There hasn't been as many [opportunities in the pass game] as we expected or wanted early on," Nagy said. "Hopefully, that'll grow a little bit as we build this identity on offense. But those guys, they've been so valuable blocking. And now to be able to get that second element of being pass-catchers and morph that together to where, for instance, if you do a play-action, they're blocking well and now all of a sudden they release and you can hit them like we had a few last week. We want to keep that growing.

"I just give those guys a lot of credit, because they're selfless individuals that just want to win. Not winning last week and knowing we can play better is what keeps them hungry."

All-time greats: The Bears have the unenviable task of facing two of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history on back-to-back Sundays in the Packers' Aaron Rodgers and the Buccaneers' Tom Brady. Both have won three league MVP awards.

"They're so similar in the fact that just the things that they do at the line of scrimmage and how slow the game is to them," said Nagy. "The defense is slow to them. They see everything before it happens.

"Their similarities of the confidence that they have in themselves, the ability to make every throw. The experience that they have. They're so competitive. They're multipliers and they make their players better because of that. You can do nothing but respect that."

Health update: Bears players who did not practice Wednesday due to injuries were receivers Allen Robinson II (ankle) and Jakeem Grant Sr. (ankle), defensive tackle Akiem Hicks (groin), outside linebacker Khalil Mack (foot) and linebacker Caleb Johnson (knee).

Receiver Darnell Mooney (groin), tight end J.P. Holtz (quad) and safety Tashaun Gipson Sr. (hip) were limited.

Running back Damien Williams and outside linebacker Robert Quinn remain on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

The Bears hit the practice fields at Halas Hall Wednesday ahead of Sunday afternoon's game against the Buccaneers in Tampa.

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