There are plenty of frustrating things about the Chicago Bears’ first five games. While going 3-2 is good, the offense has felt surprisingly disjointed. Part of the problem is quarterback Caleb Williams being hurt. Not having him for three games muddies the waters considerably. However, another persistent issue has come from the bizarre deployment of the team’s offensive personnel. None more so than tight end Colston Loveland. The former 1st round pick was a budding star last season for the Bears, but he is currently the fourth-most targeted player on the team, and his production is lagging.
People can’t understand why. Basic NFL logic has always been to get the ball to your best players. Head coach Ben Johnson, for all of his brilliance, hasn’t done that enough. Loveland is a matchup weapon. The Bears should be feeding him as much as possible. What in the world is the problem? One person has an interesting theory. Matt Harmon of Yahoo Sports believes part of the issue is that the Bears have been forced to lean on the tight end as a blocker more often. Why? It is mostly the lingering issues at left tackle.
Colston Loveland must sacrifice catches to protect the QB.
However, so far in 2026, he’s stayed in to pass block on 13.2% of his snaps, way up from 5.8% overall in 2025 and in the Week 16 to Divisional Round run rate of 3.9%. Again, this is helpful to the Bears’ offense. Williams isn’t the only starter the team is currently missing. Chicago has played the start of the season without left tackle Ozzy Trapilo, who was fantastic as a rookie but tore his patellar tendon in the 2025 postseason. The team rotated Braxton Jones and Theo Benedet at left tackle around their four other stalwart starters before Jones went on IR. Benedet is an athletic mover in the run game but leaky in pass protection. It makes sense for Loveland to have to help out until Trapilo returns…
…If Trapilo, who is on the active roster, dresses for game day here soon, we still need to see if he can get back to form in short order. If he does, it could free Loveland up to run more routes and be deployed as a pass-catcher.
The numbers are pretty startling.
Loveland played 513 total snaps on passing downs last season for the Bears. Only 29 of them were spent pass-blocking. This season, he has played 187 total snaps thus far, with 24 of them being in pass-blocking. That is a massive shift, going from 5.6% to a whopping 12.8%. Loveland’s usage as a blocker has more than doubled. The reasoning is hard to dispute. In his past two starts filling in for Braxton Jones, Theo Benedet has allowed 7 total pressures and a sack. His pass protection issues don’t seem to have gone away.
Another part of the issue is the quarterback situation. Coach Johnson largely got away with keeping Colston Loveland involved in the receiving game last year because Williams was starting. His ability to evade pressure made it less critical to help Benedet. Such is not the case with Case Keenum and Tyson Bagent. Neither can move nearly as well as Williams. Putting them behind a leaky protector at left tackle is asking for trouble. So the team made a difficult sacrifice, leaving Loveland and Cole Kmet inside more often to help.
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Things should get better soon.
For one, Williams is on the cusp of returning this week against Atlanta. If he has his usual mobility, that should compel Johnson to utilize Loveland more as a receiving threat as he did last season. The Bears know they have to score points if they want to win, given how banged up the defense is. Loveland is a vital part of that. Then there is the Ozzy Trapilo situation. He’s been practicing without restrictions for weeks. Coaches believe his conditioning is back to its pre-injury levels. Now it comes down to whether the left tackle has full confidence in that knee. All signs point to him being close to returning as well.
If he can once again be the guy he was before the injury last January, then Loveland should be free to finally do what he does best. If nothing else, the tight end deserves massive props for not complaining once over the past five weeks. It must be frustrating not to be more involved in the passing game. Instead, Loveland has focused on doing whatever is necessary to help the Bears win. This is a big part of why they loved him coming out of Michigan. He is as unselfish as it gets.
