Falcons BREAKING: TE Kyle Pitts Suffers MCL Tear; When Could He Return?
The Atlanta Falcons earned a hard-fought 27-24 victory over the Chicago Bears, but they didn't walk away unscathed.
Pro Bowl tight end Kyle Pitts took a hit to his right knee from Bears safety Eddie Jackson and remained down on the field. He walked off under his own power and did high knees on the sideline, but later entered the medical tent and then went to the locker room.
After the game, Falcons coach Arthur Smith couldn't provide much of an update as the team was waiting on full medical evaluations.
However, with tests run and results in, the Falcons believe that Pitts sustained an MCL tear, which may require surgery, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
Former NFL team doctor David Chao added that Pitts "will miss multiple weeks," and with the Falcons having just two games before their bye week, there's a fair chance he doesn't see the field until Atlanta's Week 15 game against the New Orleans Saints.
After Pitts went down, veteran MyCole Pruitt took over the role of Atlanta's receiving tight end, catching one pass for 17 yards on two targets.
Smith said that Pruitt "stepped up big time," and he's earned the trust of quarterback Marcus Mariota dating back to their time with the Tennessee Titans.
"He doesn't get a lot of credit, and he deserves a whole lot," Mariota said. "Not only does he block at the point of attack and do a lot of different things for us ... Unfortunately, with Kyle going down, he had to step into a bigger role and had a huge play for us on one of those keepers.
"It's kind of fun for me - I've known MyCole since we were in Tennessee together, and I have complete faith and trust in him. He's done a lot of the dirty jobs and it's cool to see him have success today."
Potentially hit with Pitts-sized shoes to fill, Pruitt will get a chance to continue his positive outing move forward, starting Sunday against the Washington Commanders.
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