The Falcons won’t have Drake London on Thursday night. They might not have Kyle Pitts, either.
They’ve released their injury report, and London has been ruled out. No surprise there; he hasn’t practiced at all. But Pitts is carrying the “questionable” tag, also with a knee injury. He’s been a limited participant in practice the last two days.
Those wanting to use Pitts will need to double-check tomorrow that he’s active.
I would guess that if there’s any way Pitts can make it on the field, he’ll be there. They don’t have much else. Without London, they’re awfully lean at wide receiver, relying recently on a chickenscratch combo of Darnell Mooney, David Sills and Dylan Drummond (off the practice squad). Mooney has been an above-average No. 2 receiver in recent years, but he’s not playing at that level.
The Falcons also have KhaDarel Hodge, and they recently added Malik Heath, after he was released by the Packers. Awfully dire.
Hence the need for Pitts. He’s fallen short of expectations, given that back in 2021, he was picked immediately before Penei Sewell and Ja’Marr Chase. But he’s at least a body with some pass-catching ability. They don’t have another tight end who offers much on the pass-catching front.
And Pitts has shown some ability to work with Kirk Cousins. In their four games together this year, Pitts has caught 9, 2, 7 and 6 passes. That puts him at an average of 6 catches for 64 yards in his four games with Cousins. (London, by the way, missed all four of those games). If he looks reasonably healthy, I expect he’ll be catching 5-plus passes against a Bucs defense that’s been awfully soft against the pass.
Touchdowns, on the other hand, look pretty dire. He’s caught only one all year, and he’s caught only 1, 2, 3 and 4 the last two seasons. He’s scored in only 10 of his 74 games as a pro.
Only 12 times in league history has a tight end caught 60-plus passes and not scored at least 2 TDs. Pitts is a month away from being the first tight end to do that twice.
| MOST CATCHES BY TIGHT ENDS WITHOUT 2 TDs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2008 | Chris Cooley, Was. | 83 | 849 | 10.2 | 1 |
| 2005 | Jermaine Wiggins, Min. | 69 | 568 | 8.2 | 1 |
| 2021 | Kyle Pitts, Atl. | 68 | 1026 | 15.1 | 1 |
| 1985 | Steve Jordan, Min. | 68 | 795 | 11.7 | 0 |
| 1984 | John Spagnola, Phi. | 65 | 701 | 10.8 | 1 |
| 2006 | Jason Witten, Dall. | 64 | 754 | 11.8 | 1 |
| 2020 | Evan Engram, NYG | 63 | 654 | 10.4 | 1 |
| 1995 | Jackie Harris, T.B. | 62 | 751 | 12.1 | 1 |
| 2025 | Kyle Pitts, Atl. | 62 | 631 | 10.2 | 1 |
| 2025 | • Dalton Schultz, Hou. | 62 | 574 | 9.3 | 1 |
| 2016 | Eric Ebron, Det. | 61 | 711 | 11.7 | 1 |
| 2023 | Tyler Conklin, NYJ | 61 | 621 | 10.2 | 0 |
| 2021 | Cole Kmet, Chi. | 60 | 612 | 10.2 | 0 |
—Ian Allan