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Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts sat in front of his locker and pondered the question for a second.
How did he think this year went?
“A return to play. A return to, my goal was to finish the year out and healthily get to the end,” Pitts told ESPN in the week prior to the season finale. “To get to the 18-game mark, a full year after the injury, that was something I was looking forward to.
“But the season, that was something that obviously had its ups and downs, its ebbs and flows and it just comes with it. But for the most part it’s a lot more ups than downs.”
Pitts revealed in an Instagram post last week that he also suffered a PCL injury beyond just the MCL repair in his right knee, which ended his 2022 season. This knowledge would also explain why his now-former coach, Arthur Smith, continually said it was “a long journey” for Pitts to get back healthy whenever he was asked about his tight end’s production.
It was a different type of year for Pitts, one he had never experienced. This was the first time he had dealt with a significant injury, a significant surgery. In some ways, he had no idea what to expect for 2023.
Pitts played in every game for Atlanta, targeted 90 times with 53 catches for 667 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. He had four games over 50-plus receiving yards and five games in which he had under 30 yards receiving.
He had five or more catches only twice, but both those games came early in the season — five receptions for 41 yards against Detroit and seven catches for 87 yards against Houston. His production was the subject of questions for months.
It’s far off from his rookie year, when he had 68 catches for 1,026 yards and a touchdown, but his coaches believed stats didn’t say everything.
“In my mind, I still say that he’s a better football player right now than he was his rookie year,” Falcons tight ends coach Justin Peelle said. “Just with the experience and then becoming an NFL professional and all those things that come with it.”
Those are things Pitts is still learning as he navigates his rookie contract. But 2023 was about more than that. It was about learning different things about himself and his approach. Hence why getting through the year was so important.
“It’s a continual growth in terms of coming off an injury,” Pitts said. “So each week was trying to get better, keep getting stronger and, you know, just doing what I need to do to get back to the bionic knee that I used to have.
“That natural knee, you know, after surgery.”
It was a constant growth and progression as the offseason and then the season went along. Getting through the full 2023 season became a goal he added after the injury.
He said he never felt uncomfortable, and because his knee wasn’t always functioning like it had in the past, he had to “work on getting it back to what it was.”
Pitts said he feels better now. After he was hurt, he said he was “obviously down for a little bit,” and it was his first time getting surgery.
Pitts said on the whole it was a “pretty good” season. The knee injury forced him to approach how he took care of himself differently. He’d never had to go through physical therapy. It used to be body maintenance and small things that he was focused on.
“So that was something big,” Pitts said. “The recovery and having to do that constantly more than I’ve done it in my past years.”
He learned different techniques “to keep your body fresh.” He wouldn’t say what they were, but he believes they helped him navigate the season.
Now, Pitts heads into an interesting offseason. He’ll have a new head coach for the first time in his pro career. Depending on whom the Falcons hire, he might end up in a different offense with a different role than the play-everywhere hybrid tight end/receiver he had been his first three seasons with Smith and Dave Ragone running the offense. Last season, Pitts lined up in the slot 352 times, out wide 202 times and as a tight end for 163 snaps.
And there’s the larger organizational question. Atlanta has to decide whether to pick up Pitts’ fifth-year option in May.
“I control what I can control. I just go out here and play,” Pitts said. “Learn, practice and give the best effort I can. And that’s it.”
