Kyle Pitts’ recent strong performance has drawn attention as he now ranks among the top receivers in the NFL for receiving yards and receptions since Week 13. When asked about what led to this resurgence, Pitts said, “Just each week, during the week, making sure we strain and we focus in and off the field, to be able to go out there and perform.”
Head coach Raheem Morris supported this view. “It’s hard to say (he’s doing anything different) in practice,” Morris said. “You guys are all here for OTA days and you got to see training camp and this is what he looked like throughout the whole course. I was scared to talk about him in the offseason because you want to just let him get out there and do it on his own and let everyone see it for themselves. In the course of the season he has shown moments like yesterday and even the week before but to put the consistent games back-to-back like this I think is something that is really nice for us all to see.”
Morris also highlighted Pitts’ contributions on crucial plays: “Particularly (Sunday) on conversion downs — third or fourth — he was special. Being able to go get the ball and connecting on some critical catches that were contested, beating man-to-man coverage, winning some pretty tough looks, getting the ball in his hands … Everything wasn’t perfect but certainly was producing at a higher level than what we have seen in some other times and some other years.” He added that discussions since offseason have focused on expecting more from Pitts: “He’s given us more,” Morris concluded, “and it’s been nice.”
The Falcons’ recent wins have prompted questions about their timing given they are no longer playoff contenders. Morris acknowledged frustration over missed opportunities earlier in the season: “I don’t know if you can talk around that. It is frustration,” Morris said. He referenced close losses against teams such as Carolina Panthers, New York Jets, New England Patriots, and Indianapolis Colts as examples of games where outcomes could have changed their current situation.
Despite these setbacks, Morris remains encouraged by how his team has performed recently: “It’s not a very high level (of frustration) but a high level of encouragement about what the team can do and how we can show everybody else what we can do.” Linebacker Divine Deablo commented on team cohesion: “These boys just want to play for each other,” Deablo said.
Looking ahead at roster decisions due to injuries—specifically Mike Hughes’ ankle injury—Morris indicated both Cobee Bryant and C.J. Henderson are being considered as replacements: “I really like the competes of Cobee Byrant going out there last week and playing against a real Hall of Famer in Mike Evans, and then having a chance to get C.J. out there (Sunday) to go make some big-time plays for us — a huge play at the end,” Morris said. He expressed confidence in both players contributing depending on evaluations later in the week.
