Where’s Colston Loveland?

Seven games into this Bears season, it was a reasonable question. The rookie tight end missed one game with a banged-up hip and had a bit player’s stat line — 11 catches, 116 yards, zero touchdowns — that stuck out like a sore thumb.

Why had the Bears drafted a tight end with the No. 10 pick again? And why Loveland instead of Tyler Warren, who at this point was already killing it with the Colts?

As November arrived, no one would have bet on the 21-year-old Loveland to lead the Bears in receptions (58), receiving yards (713) and touchdown grabs (tied, with six) by regular season’s end.

“Yeah, maybe I didn’t think that,” Loveland himself said this week.

But he sprung upon the Bengals with seven catches for 118 yards and two scores in the first game of November, and from there embodied danger for all Bears opponents.

Against the Lions in the regular-season finale, he was targeted 13 times — four more than any other NFL tight end in Week 18 — as part of a 10-catch, 91-yard, one-touchdown performance that raised a number of questions far more fun to ponder than the ones from two-plus months ago.

Was Loveland an all-out home run of a draft pick? Is he the Bears’ best weapon in the passing game? Aside from quarterback Caleb Williams, is Loveland the player the Packers must worry about most in the teams’ wild-card playoff game Saturday at Soldier Field?

“From Day 1 of camp, and just watching the film ... it’s like, wow. I’m just getting better each and every week.”

— Bears TE Colston Loveland

No Bear appears to be on a more dramatic trajectory.

“I’ve gotten way better and still have a lot more to improve in all aspects of my game,” Loveland said. “But from Day 1 of camp, and just watching the film even from prior games, it’s like, wow. I’m just getting better each and every week, which is good.”

No one is doubting this Bears pick anymore.

“Yeah, whatever they say, it’s all good,” he said. “Whatever.”

Four years ago this month, Loveland — who was such a dominant high school player in his dot-on-the-map Idaho town that his college suitors included Southern powerhouses Alabama and LSU — set sail as an early enrollee at Michigan. As a 17-year-old Wolverines freshman, he had a mere 10 catches through 11 games before snaring his first touchdown pass, a 45-yarder, in the regular-season finale against Ohio State. He scored again against Purdue in the Big Ten title game. A year later, he was a force as Michigan won a national championship.

He was a big-time talent, no doubt, and also a big-game dude.

Will he be for the Bears as well? They’ve come to expect it.

“His ability to progress in both the run game and the pass game is at a rate I really haven’t seen before,” said Bears tight end Durham Smythe, an eighth-year NFL player who estimates he has played with over 40 tight ends. “He’s capable of anything. I’ve never seen a guy that young come in who’s mature and just gets exponentially better at everything. I’ve never seen a guy that young come in and just get the job done on every play.

“And he’s an all-time teammate. It shocks me that he’s 21 years old. In this business, you’re around these guys every single day. I’ve had teammates I enjoyed being around, and I’ve had teammates who I work with but don’t want to spend a ton of time around, and he’s a guy I could spend every day with for years. That’s not always the case with a top-10 pick. He’s awesome.”

“He’s an all-time teammate. It shocks me that he’s 21 years old.”

— Bears TE Durham Smythe

Loveland is “vital” to the offense and has earned an “immense trust level,” according to coach Ben Johnson. In the high-strung Johnson’s own rookie season with the Bears, seeing Loveland routinely get out on the practice field as early as anyone and linger late to catch extra balls from Williams has engendered strong feelings.

At Halas Hall on Wednesday, Loveland ran through non-contact drills in his navy blue No. 84, wearing white Adidas shoes and gloves, with a white towel suspended from his rear waistband and his navy track pants unzipped at the ankles. No apparel endorsements yet, in case anyone was wondering, though perhaps that will change before long.

Many teammates were showering well before Loveland walked off the field and into the locker room.

This is a rookie who has made a major impression.

“So talented,” said linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. “His speed, his athleticism, the mismatches he creates, it’s for real. You could see from the start he was going to be a good player, and he’s only going to get better.”

The playoffs are here.

“One thing I know is Colston Loveland is ready,” Edmunds said.

Loveland hopes to reach an even higher level.

“Most definitely,” he said. “I’m going to try.”

Where’s Loveland?

He’s getting close to the top of the Bears food chain. If there were doubts about him, they’re long gone. He’s a problem — a big one — for the Packers now.

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