Colston Loveland just put a nice little exclamation point on the end of his rookie season.
After catching 10 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown in the Bears’ Week 18 loss to the Detroit Lions, Chicago’s young tight end was named the NFL’s Rookie of the Week.
The Bears announced the honor on their social media pages.
Loveland has really come on lately after a slow start to his rookie campaign. The Bears’ top pick of the 2025 draft, he entered the league still recovering from a hip injury that limited his offseason work and slowed his early integration. The Bears were careful with his usage, and his routes were a tad more basic early on. His targets were also inconsistent, and some wondered if Chicago erred when drafting him 10th overall.
But as his health stabilized, Loveland’s responsibilities increased. The coaching staff expanded his route tree and began trusting him to operate deeper and more frequently between the numbers. Now, he looks like one of the brightest young stars in the league.
Colston Loveland’s Rookie of the Week Award Put Bow on Second-Half Breakthrough
GettyBears TE Colston Loveland was just named the NFL’s Rookie of the Week after the team’s season finale.
The young TE really began to make some major noise Week 8, when he delivered his first jaw-dropping performance. Against the Cincinnati Bengals, he notched the first 100-yard game of his career, catching six passes on seven targets for 102 yards and two touchdowns — one of which was an electric walk-off game-winning score.
From that point on, his production was a lot more steady, and he has gradually become a reliable option in the red zone and on 3rd and 4th downs for quarterback Caleb Williams.
Loveland finished the regular season leading Chicago in receiving with 58 catches for 713 yards and six touchdowns — and he’s just getting started. His strongest stretch came at the end of the year. In the Bears’ final two games, he topped 90 receiving yards in each and scored in both.
Now, he and the Bears face the challenge of a very familiar opponent lurking in the wild-card round.
Bears Relying on Loveland More as Crucial Stretch Hits
The Bears have longtime rivals the Green Bay Packers heading to Soldier Field in the wild-card round. The Packers are going to test Loveland and every other Bears pass catcher physically, but he should be ready for the challenge. Loveland had seven catches for 59 yards and a TD in two games against Green Bay this season.
“He’s come, he’s shown up and he’s made big plays for us,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said about Loveland on January 5. “I think the last few fourth downs, the ball seems to find its way to him. I think that’s certainly a credit to him. The quarterbacks certainly trust him, but I think that probably sheds a lot of light in terms of how vital he is towards our operation. We ask him to wear a lot of hats … and I think he’s still learning and he’s growing. I’m really excited not only to see him compete over the next few weeks, but also his future.”
“He’s very reliable,” offensive coordinator Declan Doyle also noted. “He’s a friendly target to throw to, we talk about that a lot. He’s a big player with a big catch radius and you don’t see a lot of tight ends that can do both. … A guy that can threaten you on third down and yet, on base downs can help you and be an extension of the offensive line. The biggest thing is you know what to expect out of the player. He’s a guy that you trust in big moments, and we’ve loved having him.”
The moments will rarely get bigger than the Packers coming to town for the playoffs. We’ll see if his recent hot streak carries over against them.
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