Atlanta Falcons lose Kyle Pitts for remainder of season

A right knee injury will prevent the second-year tight end from playing for Atlanta again for the remainder of the season.

FLOWERY BRANCH — The tight end for the atlanta falcons, Kyle Pittswill miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on Tuesday to repair the medial collateral ligament in his right knee, the head coach said Wednesday. Arthur Smith.

Pitts he had hurt his knee during the second half of the victory of Atlanta Over the chicago bears on November 20, and missed last Sunday’s loss against the Washington Commanders. Smith He said that, when the diagnosis of the injury was initially known, he thought that there would be a possibility of returning before the end of the season, but later he was sent to specific specialists for the knee, to carry out further determinations.

Pitts He posted a photo to his Instagram account of Tuesday night, with a knee wrapped after the injury, with “Day 1” written to accompany the image.

Smith He said he believes that the injury will not have an impact on the 2023 season for Pitts, and hope you’re ready to play then. It is not yet known if Pitts he’ll be ready for the start of offseason training.

“We’ll just have to see,” he said. Smith. “Nothing that worries me regarding actual games in the season.”

Pitts22 years old, was elected to the pro bowl as a rookie in 2021 and became the second tight end in league history nfl to rack up at least 1,000 receiving yards in his first year in the league.

Playing in a different style offense in his second season, the numbers of Pitts they fell. He had 28 receptions for 356 yards and two touchdowns in 10 games in 2022, and even before the knee injury in November, he had been dealing with a hamstring issue that cost him a game in October.

Smithafter injury Pittssaid his tight end had been playing through a lot of trouble in 2022, evidenced by the way he couldn’t reach top speed on outside routes.

“Obviously he had better stats in the passing game a year ago,” he admitted. Smith. “We were a very different team in a different place. Where we saw a lot of growth was in other roles that we asked him to do. Certainly there are things that you wish would have been different, I think that’s probably every year, but you can see the growth at time that he becomes a more complete player”.

A lot of it is down to the way he’s played Atlanta in the season –much more dependent on the run than the pass– and the desire for so much Pitts as wizards do Pitts a more complete tight end, rather than just a passing threat.

In the offseason, Pitts I do a lot of work on his blocks. It was something the second-year player took great pride in, telling ESPN early in the season that blocking “is something I take personally, because it’s always been, ‘He’s just a receiver; he doesn’t want to block.'”

Atlanta he ran after him a lot more this year. That’s part of the reason why Smith I was so pleased with the season of Pittseven if it didn’t show up in the statistical numbers.

Pitts showed more of that in 2022 in a scheme that can demand more of tight ends than others in the league. nfl. It’s all about the combination of what he showed Pitts in 2021 in a more air-predominant offense, and in 2022 in a more run-predominant offense, which helps give confidence to Smith regarding the future of Pitts in 2023 and beyond.

“The best thing is that you don’t want or expect it,” he said Smith. “You know he’s done it and you know he’s made progress in other areas than what we’ve asked of him, so you’re very confident and very positive about predicting the future.

“You can’t predict everything, but you have evidence and he’s had so much growth and he’s such an impactful player, whether he touches the ball or not.”

With Pitts out for the season Atlanta has studied a combination of tight ends MyCole Pruitt, Anthony Firkser Y Parker Hessealong with fullback Keith Smith and the corridor Cordarelle Pattersonamong others, to help fulfill the various roles he performed for the team.