A viral pancake block goes down as one of Chicago Bears tight end Colston Loveland’s few splash plays this season, but even that contains a mistake.
That’s a rookie for you.
During the second quarter of the Bears’ 26-14 win over the New Orleans Saints in Week 7, Loveland flattened Saints defensive end Carl Granderson to help open up a hole for Roschon Johnson on third-and-2.
“Um, actually, I really, you could call it an ‘MA’ — missed assignment,” Loveland said sheepishly. “I really could have blocked or should have blocked someone else.”
In fact, fellow tight end Cole Kmet pushed Loveland in the back — as if intending to block Granderson — then peeled off to block cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry
Johnson still picked up 11 yards and the first down, and D’Andre Swift scored on the next play to give the Bears a 13-0 lead.
“When you’re physical with a guy like that on the edge and you throw him to the ground, you can be a little wrong. Someone will adjust off you,” said tight end Durham Smythe, who ran through the gap to lead block on the second level. “And as you saw it was a very positive play.”
Added Loveland: “It’s good to get that on tape, but I acknowledge that’s the new standard. … Got to continue working on my technique, getting the feet in the ground, staying strong. “But yeah, that was a good one.”
The blocking has been a plus, but Loveland is still looking to fulfill his enormous potential as a pass catcher — part of what attracted the Bears when they drafted him with the No. 10 pick in April.
Kmet has been ruled out for Sunday’s road game against the Baltimore Ravens — ending a streak of 90 consecutive games played since the Bears drafted him in the second round in 2020 — so it would seem Loveland’s chance at the spotlight comes now.
“Whatever I get asked to do, I’m going to go out there and do it, whether that’s run a bunch of routes, whether that’s run block, pass pro, whatever,” Loveland told the Tribune. “I’m not worried about it, as long as we keep stacking wins.”
Loveland had three catches against the Saints — the fact that represents a season high speaks to how sparse the opportunities have been in the passing game. In five games, Loveland has run 72 routes, which have yielded eight catches for 78 yards on 13 targets.
With Kmet leaving the Saints game early, Loveland played a season high 67% of the offensive snaps.
“I don’t really care how many touches I get, as long as I can go in the game and help impact the game in a positive way,” Loveland said.
Said passing game coordinator Press Taylor: “We’ve had Cole available for most of these games, other than obviously the second half (of the Saints game). Colston has been up and down just with injury as well. … “It’s not like we have made an effort to make sure he’s not involved in the pass game.”
Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle was at a loss for an explanation too.
“I can’t point to one area as far as why that hasn’t shown up,” he said. “And yet, I think it’s something that we’re really working to push for this second half of the season.”
Great expectations
Any player drafted with a top-10 pick is expected to be a game-changer — and soon, if not Day 1.
“It’s the complete totality of what he can do for us,” Bears general manager Ryan Poles said in April. “When you turn on the (college) tape, there’s plays being made constantly.”
Loveland was the first pick of coach Ben Johnson’s regime and summoned immediate comparisons to the former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator’s prized tight end, Sam LaPorta, heaping more hype on Loveland.
And then many draft analysts questioned why the Bears selected the Michigan product over Penn State counterpart Tyler Warren, who leads all tight ends through Week 7 with 439 receiving yards.
Senior director of player personnel Jeff King defended the decision: “Colston was the best fit for us.”
During a Sept. 26 appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” now-former Penn State coach James Franklin scoffed to McAfee, “Another team took another tight end in front of him. Somebody took another tight end in front of that guy. I’m going to say it.”
No complaints
He has repeatedly fielded questions about his lack of production.
“I’m not worried about it at all,” he said. “What I’m worried about is winning games, and we’ve been doing that.”
The Bears carry a four-game winning streak into Baltimore.
“I said this earlier, whenever my number’s called, I’ve got to go make a play,” Loveland said. “So I believe that there’ll be a game where I get my opportunity. So I’ve just got to make the most of it and continue trusting in it.
“But I’m having fun out there right now, playing ball with all my guys, so I can’t complain one bit.”
Added Smythe: “He’s mature beyond his years. You know, 21 years old, a rookie in this league, and you wouldn’t guess that from having a conversation with him.”
Smythe has watched Loveland improve as a blocker each week. Ben Johnson praised Loveland’s overall professionalism.
“Colston’s coming along nicely,” Johnson said. “I think he showed up in a very positive manner in the running game and then the routes that we are asking him to run, I think he’s doing a really nice job of it.
“We’re going to continue to push that envelope.”
‘There’s one ball’
Johnson has made similar promises before.
Earlier this season, he blamed himself as chief play caller for the tight ends’ lack of involvement in the passing game. And when asked this week why that continues to be the case, he sang a familiar tune: “We’ve got all these mouths we have to feed.”
Part of the problem is finding more completions in general, he said. The Bears already have the league’s fifth-lowest pass-play rate 53.2%, so those plays have to be really efficient.
DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden and other receivers, not to mention the running backs, are all looking for touches.
“There’s one ball and it is what it is,” Doyle said.
When tight ends coach Jim Dray was asked why Loveland wasn’t featured more, he replied with a wry smile: “We’re asked to do every job, so run blocking, pass protecting, receiving. You’re always featured, right?”
Touche.
Featured in the passing game.
“I know people see targets as not involved or involved when it comes to the tight end position, but we’re asked to do a lot of things to help offense be productive,” Dray said. “If the ball goes to him, he’s expected to catch it. But we’ve got a lot of explosive, productive skill players on offense, so the more we can spread the ball around the better.”
Rookie hiccups
For a moment, it looked as if the Bears’ Week 3 game against the porous Dallas Cowboys defense was poised to be Loveland’s breakout.
Caleb Williams looked his way on the game’s opening offensive play. Later in the first quarter, they connected on a 31-yard reception. That not only also stands as his longest reception but his highest single-game yardage output.
“There were certainly some opportunities on the call sheet for him, along with all the other guys, but he had to come out of that game, so we didn’t get to some of them,” Dray said.
Loveland left that game with a hip injury and missed the next game against the Las Vegas Raiders. And he has had some other hiccups too.
Loveland had three accepted penalties over the last two games, including two offensive pass-interference infractions and a false start.
‘He’s a big target’
Against the Saints, he came through in a few high-leverage situations.
On a third-and-7 in the second quarter, Williams hit Loveland for a 9-yard gain to the Saints 6-yard line. Two players later, Kyle Monangai punched it in from the 1 to extend the Bears’ lead to 20-0.
In the fourth quarter, after the two-minute warning, Williams looked for Loveland on fourth-and-3, and he beat his cover for an 8-yard gain on an out route.
“He ran a great route,” Williams said. “We’ve had back-to-back games in big moments where the ball has gone to him. So I think that’s just kudos to the type of player he is, how smart he is, how good of an athlete he is and obviously he’s been trying to get on the same page with me.”
Taylor said that play was on the call sheet as a fourth-down situation.
“We all know the stakes when that play gets put in on Thursday, and who it’s probably going to be,” he said.
‘A match made in heaven’: How the Chicago Bears settled on ‘Idaho tough’ Colston Loveland at No. 10
Loveland was the primary read on the choice route, and he had to be on the same page with Williams.
“(Loveland) did a great job making the right decision versus the coverage they had,” Taylor said. “Caleb was right on board with him. We got the first down. We iced the game right there.”
Doyle said Loveland’s separation ability makes him “really friendly to throw to.
“He’s a big target, and in those crunch time moments, we’re building that chemistry with Caleb (with) him being more comfortable throwing to him.”
On the Bears’ game-winning drive against the Washington Commanders in Week 6, Loveland’s 6-yard reception moved the sticks on third-and-5. From that point, Bears ran down a little more clock, and Jake Moody kicked a 38-yard field goal to secure the 25-24 upset.
“I want to be the guy they can call on in any moment,” Loveland said. “If my number’s called, I’ve got to be ready to attack the opportunity and make the most of it.”
Training and genetics
If Tevin Allen had his way, Loveland’s biggest opportunity would be now.
Of course, he’s biased, he’s one of Loveland’s offseason trainers as founder of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based Gold Feet Global and a former Illinois State University defensive back. They connected through another service Loveland uses, Exos Sports Performance in Phoenix.
Allen marvels at 6-foot-6, 248-pound frame and basketball background.
“I feel like Colston is a weapon,” Allen said. “So hopefully they start putting in some plays for him, and putting some stick nods and get him towards the red zone and using his big body for a lot of box-outs.”
Allen agrees with many draft analysts and scouts that Loveland has elite athleticism, but that’s just a starting point. Loveland recognized that and has asked him a “good annoying” amount of questions.
“It’s basically going back to the basics, man, and being able to fine-tune some things that he needed some work on, some things that some people didn’t know how to develop in him, whether that’s being able to decelerate at his size, run at a high maximum volume of speed, and understanding the posture of how to break down and working on absorbing drills to be able to stop,” Allen said. “A lot of people don’t understand that … before you change directions, you’ve got to be able to decelerate. So that was a big thing.”
They also worked on body angles, coordination and footwork. Allen also feels the defensive perspective he offers gives Loveland an advantage that will pay off as his game matures.
“I understand how to break into zones, how to manipulate DBs’ leverages, how to break down coverages, how to get into the honey dew spots of the defense, because I know what it’s like to get beat,” Allen said. “I know what it’s like to lock somebody down. …
“You look at my highlight tape, I’m going against 6-5 to 6-8 tight ends, and I know exactly what they need to do to manipulate and be deceptive and win their route.”
Coaches definitely notice Loveland’s traits, even some they weren’t expecting.
“He’s got great movement skills,” Dray said. “We talk about it in our room, playing on your insteps and getting in and out of breaks with low pad level and being explosive.”
Added offensive line coach Dan Roushar: “You’re starting to see the physicality and the strength, and I’m not sure we saw that even on his tape at Michigan. So it’s growing and it’s getting better and you can feel that.”
Room to grow
Smythe acknowledged that nuance in the NFL is not gained easily, especially at the tight end position.
“As you get older, as you’ve been in the league for three, four, five, six-plus years, you kind of realize the concepts, and you’re not just thinking when you go out there, all right, this is my job,” said Smythe, who has attended George Kittle’s Tight End University summit three times. “I have to block this guy. You’re thinking of it conceptually like, this is the point of the play.”
If you know the point of the play, you can adjust when the defense shows you a different look. That’s the kind of thing Loveland will learn eventually, and it’s not lost on him.
“You can never know too much,” Loveland said. “So I’ve got to continue to keep learning. And we’re throwing new stuff in all the time, so you never really know it until you go through the week and prepare for it. But I feel good.”