Falcons TE Kyle Pitts will be out Sunday against the Buccaneers

Kyle Pitts has not had the most productive start to the season as a pass catcher, but I tend to agree with Arthur Smith that it’s only a matter of time until he is. In the meantime, Pitts helps open things up for others by absorbing the focus of opposing defenses, and he’s been asked to chip in heavily as a blocker for this run-first Falcons team.

Unfortunately, we won’t get a breakout game against the Buccaneers, and we won’t even get a game where Pitts attracts that attention and makes life easier for Drake London, Olamide Zaccheaus, and others. The Falcons have declared that he’ll be out Sunday.

It’s never good timing for a team to lose two weapons as good as Cordarrelle Patterson and Pitts, but somehow playing against a very good Buccaneers defense without either seems like particularly awful timing. Pitts will be week-to-week after this, in all likelihood, while Patterson is on injured reserve. The Falcons also have a tough San Francisco 49ers defense looming after the Bucs game, so we’re about to find out how good Tyler Allgeier and Caleb Huntley can be, as well as what this passing game looks like without Pitts altogether.

We’ll hope Pitts will be back soon and that the Falcons can find their way to a win without him, but this is a huge blow and a huge bummer.