It’s Week 5 and the Atlanta Falcons are set to face Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so they will need all of their starters healthy.
However, there could be some concern for starting tight end, Kyle Pitts.
Pitts was not seen at practice on Wednesday and it was later announced that he’s dealing with a hamstring injury, according to the team’s injury report.
Punter Bradley Pinion also missed Wednesday’s practice due to a personal matter.
Pitts played in Sunday’s win over the Browns and had a single reception for 25 yards.
Falcons Week 5 Depth Chart
The Falcons’ Week 5 depth chart is slightly different than last week with Corderrelle Patterson ruled out with a knee injury and Caleb Huntley sliding in there to fill the void in the running back room.
Below is their official depth chart against Tampa Bay:
Offense
WR Drake London, Bryan Edwards, Jared Bernhardt
TE Kyle Pitts, Parker Hesse, Anthony Firkser, Feleipe Franks
LT Jake Matthews, Chuma Edoga
LG Elijah Wilkinson
C Drew Dalman, Matt Hennessy
RG Chris Lindstrom, Colby Gossett
RT Kaleb McGary, Germain Ifedi
WR Olamide Zaccheaus, KhaDarel Hodge, Damiere Byrd
RB Tyler Allgeier, Avery Williams, Caleb Huntley
FB Keith Smith
QB Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder
Defense
DL Grady Jarrett, Timothy Horne
DL Anthony Rush, Abdullah Anderson
DL Ta’Quon Graham, Matt Dickerson
OLB Adetokunbo Ogundeji, Arnold Ebiketie, Quinton Bell
LB Mykal Walker, Troy Andersen, Nathan Landman
LB Rashaan Evans, Nick Kwiatkoski
OLB Lorenzo Carter, DeAngelo Malone
CB A.J. Terrell, Mike Ford
S Richie Grant, Erik Harris
S Jaylinn Hawkins, Dean Marlowe
CB Casey Hayward Jr., Darren Hall, Dee Alford
Special Teams
K Younghoe Koo
P Bradley Pinion
LS Liam McCullough
H Bradley Pinion
PR Avery Williams
KOR Cordarrelle Patterson -OR- Avery Williams
If Pitts is ruled out Sunday, then Parker Hesse, Anthony Firkser and Feleipe Franks will take over the job.
According to D. Orlando Ledbetter of The AJC, who was present at the open portion of practice, Hesse and Franks were getting the reps at tight end.
#Falcons TE Kyle Pitts not present during open part of practice. Hesse & Franks working at tight end.!
Franks Worked Out at TE Over the Offseason
The Falcons originally signed Franks as a quarterback following the 2021 NFL Draft, but have been utilizing his athleticism and versatility since then, working in with the tight ends.
In fact, when he made his first regular-season NFL debut as a rookie last fall, it was as a blocking tight end.
The third-string quarterback made his NFL debut on September 26, 2021 against the New York Giants–––as a blocking tight end.
The Falcons first tried to use Kyle Pitts to block against the Giants’ defense on Sept. 26, 2021, but ultimately decided to put him back to his pass-catching duties and throw Franks in. At 6-foot-6 and 235 pounds, Franks isn’t too far off in size from Pitts, who measures 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds––thus he has the size and speed to block.
“We like what he’s doing at quarterback, but we think athletically there may be something he can give us at other positions,” Smith said in a presser following the Falcons’ win over New York in 2021.
Franks has yet to play in a game this season, but throughout this past offseason, he worked out more iwth the tight end group over the quarterbacks.
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Kyle Pitts Lands on Falcons’ Injury Report