When head coach Arthur Smith spoke to the media on Friday at the Atlanta Falcons open practice at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a comment he made about "everybody" being ready for the start of the season was being directly tied to tight end Kyle Pitts as he recovers from surgery to repair his right MCL.
Despite Pitts being expected to miss the recent OTAs, the comments made some wonder if Pitts would struggle to return in time for training camp or even potentially if he'd be ready in time for Week 1. Despite some of the articles written recently, neither Andy Bunker nor Randy McMichael are too worried about the timeline for Pitts' return.
"I didn't realize we were worried about this, I guess the longer it goes we'll continue to be. I didn't think we were worried about timelines," says Bunker. "Camp is the end of July, we still have two months before we have to really be worried about this."
"I thought he might be out there by minicamp. No reason to rush him back, just wait," says McMichael. "If we're out there at Flowery Branch and he's not practicing, yeah, (you wonder) did he have a setback."
Kyle Pitts suffered his injury in Week 11 in a win over the Chicago Bears, missed the remainder of the season, and underwent offseason surgery. Some of the concern for Pitts this season is staying healthy, he's only played in 27 games in his first two seasons in the NFL.