FLOWERY BRANCH — Kyle Pitts acknowledged it was a weird afternoon.
The Falcons’ star tight end received the lowest snap split of his six-year career, playing only 37.7% of the team’s offensive reps in a 34-3 loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 2. He took 26 total snaps, the third-fewest of his career.
It was the second part of a two-week span full of confusion surrounding Pitts. He was shut out for just the third time in his career in Week 1 and caught just one pass for 15 yards on three targets in Week 2. He — and the Falcons — expect more, perhaps as soon as the team’s 8:15 p.m. kickoff Thursday against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski warned against reading into snap counts for the team’s lopsided defeat to Carolina, during which several starters were taken out midway through the third quarter. He also warned against taking Pitts’ early-season sample size as a sign of his role in the offense.
“Kyle’s a big part of what we do,” Stefanski said Monday. “I know the production hasn’t been there for him or our offense in the first two games, but that’s not indicative of what we have planned with Kyle because he’s a good football player. We’re trying to move the ball, score points, and obviously, we feel confident that he can help us do that.”
The onus to involve Pitts falls heavily on the shoulders of offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, who told reporters Tuesday the team missed a few opportunities in Week 1 — veteran quarterback Cooper Rush underthrew Pitts down the seam on his lone target — and then didn’t get many chances in Week 2.
Rees plans to change that moving forward.
“We got to get it going. That’s my job,” Rees said. “He’s an integral part of what we want to do. We know what he does well. We know where he can be a matchup. We know where we can really make sure that he’s impacting games.
“But I got to do a better job with that and make sure that his talent’s coming to the forefront. We take a lot of ownership on that as a staff.”
Pitts, however, is unconcerned. He’s prone to the highs and lows that occur throughout a 17-game season, and while he knows he’s capable of helping the Falcons’ offense, he thinks it’d be wrong to get frustrated over his volume of opportunity during the first two weeks.
“It’s a long season,” Pitts said Monday. “Obviously, that’ll be kind of selfish to get upset, and obviously, I want to do as much as I can to contribute to this offense, but knowing there’s a long season and we’ll get on track.”
The most agonizing number to Pitts thus far isn’t his targets, catches or yards. It’s the Falcons’ 0-2 start. He’s excited for the chance to flush it Thursday night in Green Bay, facing a Packers defense that’s allowed tight ends to record 10 catches for 80 yards and one touchdown through the season’s first two weeks.
Pitts is no stranger to big performances on “Thursday Night Football.” In the Falcons’ last Thursday game, a 29-28 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Dec. 11, 2025, Pitts caught 11 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns.
Is a similar breakthrough in store this time around? Pitts doesn’t particularly care. He just wants to win.
“That’ll be cool,” Pitts said, “but we’re just living in the moment trying to get into the win column, and if that happens, then we’ll talk about it after the game.”
The Falcons’ hopes of winning certainly improve if Pitts can get rolling. Stefanski is a self-proclaimed tight end aficionado. Rees acknowledged the coaching staff loves its tight ends, even if, he jokes, the stats don’t show it.
So, the key to jump-starting a Falcons offense that, through 24 series, has almost twice as many giveaways (seven) as scoring drives (four)? The return of quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is certainly at the forefront.
But so is involving Pitts.
The Falcons used their 6-foot-6, 250-pound tight end in a variety of ways in practice this summer. They haven’t run many bootlegs or tight end screens to date, which may change Thursday night.
No matter the method, the Falcons understand Pitts is a game-changer — and they hope to prove it in Lambeau Field.
“Getting him going is something that’s important to us,” Rees said. “It’s got to fit into what we’re doing, and he certainly does. So Kyle’s done nothing but work his tail off, put himself in the right spots. And it’s just we got to make sure we’re finding ways for him to impact the game and we’ve had a couple of missed opportunities. But again, we can do better to allow him to do that.”
And what better time, Pitts figures, than under a national microscope on a bright primetime stage.
“I love primetime games,” he said. “Everyone’s watching you, so it’s cool. It’s cool to play in them, and it’s definitely a blessing to be able to go out there on a Thursday night in Lambeau for the first time and go out there and perform.”
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