Bears Lose Cole Kmet to Knee Injury in Tight Game Against Patriots

The Chicago Bears are officially finishing their Thursday night fight against the New England Patriots without Cole Kmet. The team ruled out their starting tight end with a knee injury, turning a tight 27-21 game into an immediate stress test for the offense.

If you were holding a ticket on Kmet hitting his receiving yards over, you can go ahead and send that slip to the digital graveyard. In-game injuries are the ultimate bad beat, and this one stings for a Chicago offense that relies heavily on his 6-foot-6 frame over the middle.

"Mike Garafolo reported: 'The #Bears have ruled out TE Cole Kmet with a knee injury.'"

Kmet has not exactly been lighting the league on fire this season, sitting on just seven catches for 59 yards and a single touchdown. But his value goes way beyond the box score, especially for a team trying to grind out a late-game lead against a pesky New England squad.

The Bears training room is starting to look like a triage center. Chicago came into this matchup already missing linebackers T.J. Edwards and Jack Sanborn, plus running back Kyle Monangai. Losing Kmet just adds another massive body to an injury report that is getting uncomfortably long.

This is not Kmet's first rodeo with lower-body issues. He battled through ankle and knee problems late in the 2025 season and missed time with a back injury earlier that year. The guy plays a brutal position, and the wear and tear is clearly compounding.

For now, the Bears have to survive the rest of this game with Colston Loveland taking the tight end snaps. As for Kmet, expect the standard Friday MRI routine to determine if this is a minor tweak or a long-term problem that will force Chicago to go shopping for depth.