Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. connected with tight end Kyle Pitts on multiple occasions on the first day of training camp. Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Big Year for Michael Penix Jr., Kyle Pitts Bond: 'We're Gonna Make it Happen'

Originally posted on Atlanta Falcons on SI
By Keith Cummings | Last updated Jul 25, 2025 2:57 PM ET

Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts was probably the second-most talked-about player on the squad over the summer behind backup quarterback Kirk Cousins.

After a Pro Bowl rookie season, Pitts’s stock is as low as it’s ever been as he enters the fifth and final season of his rookie contract. Trade rumors surrounded him during the offseason, but there’s still too much potential in the 24-year-old for the Falcons to sell low.

Pitts once again flashed that potential at Falcons training camp on Thursday as one of the stars of the day.

Teammate and golfing partner threw down the gauntlet before his press conference officially began.

“Got KP the ball today. Gonna be a lot of that,” Penix said confidently as he set up at the podium.

While Pitts missed OTAs and mini-camp with a foot injury, however, that doesn’t mean he and Penix haven’t gotten in plenty of work, on and off the field.

Penix sees a different Pitts on the field, one that he’s been seeing grow away from the field as they develop a bond.

“He's been working hard,” said Penix. “He's had a great summer. He says he feels really good coming into camp, and I can see it. He's out there running very good. He's catching the ball very well as well. All offseason, he's really [been] my golfing partner, so we've been golfing. We could talk about his golf game, but we're not going to talk about mine.

“He can hit a golf ball. But it's been great. Just connecting with him, not just on the field, but off the field as well. That’s been good, and I feel like that's going to help translate on the field.”

The Falcons made Pitts the highest drafted tight end in history when they selected him No. 4 overall in 2021. The traits that made him so intriguing as a prospect then are still there today.

“Obviously, the biggest thing is that when you think about a tight end position is matchups,” said Penix. “You want somebody that can win those matchups. That's a big position in football nowadays because those guys are usually going against linebackers and safeties, and we need a tight end that's going to win those matchups every time. That's what KP [Kyle Pitts] is going to do for us. The work that he's put in this offseason, it shows. That's what he wants to do. We’re going to make sure we make it happen.”

Lining up almost exclusively in the slot on Thursday, Pitts may be a tight end in name only. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a matchup nightmare when he’s at his best. He’s too big for a defensive back, and he’s too fast for most linebackers.

He’s in the final year of his contract and has all the incentive in the world to have a big season.

If you believe in his golfing partner, they’re going to make it happen.