It’s been a tough season for Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts, and just got worse after being placed on the injured reserve with an MCL sprain following the Falcons’ win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. 

Pitts season could be over, as ESPN reports its likely that he’s going to need surgery to repair the ailment. Being placed on IR, Pitts has to miss at least the next four games, meaning he wouldn’t be able to return at the earliest Week 17 (Chicago has a Week 14 bye). 

Falcons head coach Arthur Smith said doctors will be consulted to see the best treatment for the star tight end. 

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"I'm not a doctor, but an MCL sprain, that's usually what happens -- there's varying degrees and where they are in the knee," Smith said via ESPN. "I'll let the medical experts handle it."

This is just the latest injury for Pitts, who has been dealing with "a lot," says Smith. He’s had to miss one game this season due to a hamstring injury, but also played in the other 10 games. 

Pitts’ injury came on a third quarter catch-and-run, where he was tackled by the Bears’ Eddie Jackson by his knee. Pitts eventually got up and jogged off the field but went into the medical tent before heading to the locker room to check on his knee. 

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"He has such a huge impact on this team," Smith said. "I know the numbers aren't as gaudy as they were as a rookie and he's been playing through a lot, and he's a tough guy and he has had a huge impact."

The reason they aren’t as gaudy is due to a big quarterback change for the Falcons, as Marcus Mariota took over for the traded Matt Ryan, who landed with the Indianapolis Colts. 

Atlanta is the second-worst team in terms of passing yards per game, which sits at just 154.5 per game so far this season. The Bears are dead last with 128.1 per contest. 

In turn, Pitts went from putting up 1,026 yards on 68 receptions with one touchdown over 17 games last season, to potentially ending this year with 356 yards on 59 catches with two touchdowns. Pitts’ rookie season was the first time a rookie tight end surpassed 1,000 yards in a season.

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However, Pitts made an emphasis this past offseason to work on his blocking and the other aspects of being a tight end to fill out his game. Smith has loved what he’s brought to the Falcons, not just in the receiving game. 

"People just look at the stats, and his impact on winning has been enormous for us," Smith said. "There are certainly times we haven't been in sync and the way we play at times where you do have to sacrifice some passing numbers."

With Pitts out, Parker Hesse and MyCole Pruitt are the tight ends on the depth chart for Atlanta. 

At 5-6, the Falcons are still in playoff contention, looking up at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South, who are 5-5 on the year. 

Not a bad result. Not an outcome that ends the United States’ hopes at this World Cup. Not an entirely fair reflection of a game the USA mostly dominated. And not — certainly not — a disaster. 

But, my goodness, what a kick in the teeth for Gregg Berhalter’s young American squad that it was unable to finish the job against Wales on Monday, a sucker punch that will test every bit of their mettle in the days and games to come.

After Tim Weah’s first-half opener was canceled out by a Gareth Bale penalty — of course, Bale — with eight minutes left, the USA is left locked in a second-place stalemate in Group B ahead of its now-critical clash with England on Friday (2 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App). 

[Top plays from USA-Wales 1-1 draw]

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It could, and maybe should, have looked a lot rosier than that. For this one had started to look locked, sparking thoughts of a dream start and an instant passage into the hearts of the American sports public for a group of players who have no shortage of fire and determination. 

This time, it wasn’t quite enough.

In Bale, Wales have a five-time Champions League winner and a man who at his peak was among the very best in the world. His opportunity came when Walker Zimmerman fouled him in the area after a crafty ball from Aaron Ramsey and the resulting spot-kick, lashed into the corner of the net, was every bit as clinical as you would expect.

Earlier, it had been all USA. 

When the American goal came, 35 minutes into the opening half, it was fully deserved. Berhalter’s group had dominated completely to that point, scarcely allowing Wales, the 2016 European Championship semifinalist, out of its own half at times. 

[World Cup Daily: England now has upper hand in Group B]

Wales had been defensive, but it was through necessity, not choice, more a reaction to its inability to find its stars, Bale and Ramsey, in favorable positions. 

Such realities require innovation to break them down. That’s what happened when Josh Sargent, Berhalter’s lead forward, laid the ball off nicely for Christian Pulisic to take in full stride and bear down on the penalty area, a move surely practiced frequently on the training ground. 

Pulisic’s beautifully-timed ball sent Weah through on the goal, and the youngster, whose father George was a former World Footballer of the Year but never played a World Cup, was composed in the face of the moment. 

[Must-read: Tim Weah fulfilling his father's legacy at World Cup]

A flick with the outside of his right cleat and the ball was past goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey and into the Welsh net, the first American scorer at a World Cup since Julian Green got a consolation goal in the team’s 2-1 defeat to Belgium in the 2014 round of 16.

Green was barely heard from since, but it was also the time of Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard. Landon Donovan too, controversially left off the squad just before the tournament.

A different generation. 

This is a new one, one hoping to announce itself to the world.

For an even starker note of history, how about this? The last scorer against Wales at a World Cup before Weah? None other than Brazil legend Pelé, in the quarterfinal in 1958.

Perhaps that explains something. For this was Wales’ first World Cup since then, which brings a level of historic tension that can’t be easily shaken. For much of the evening, Wales players were the ones in their own heads.

It took less than 10 minutes for the first opportunities to land, Weah giving early indication of his positive intent with a cross that Wales defender Joe Rodon could only head awkwardly at his own goalkeeper. Moments later, an Antonee Robinson cross met Sargent’s head, but his aim was wide. 

Berhalter had demanded aggression and intensity, and it was there from the outset. Sometimes it spilled over, as Weston McKennie and Sergino Dest, both injury doubts before the game, were yellow carded within the first 15 minutes.

Given the level of the USA’s first-half superiority, a Wales change was inevitable. Big striker Kieffer Moore was brought on at the interval, a move designed to give Bale more chances to get the ball at his feet. Moore was a new type of challenge for center-halves Tim Ream and Zimmerman, and the Americans no longer had everything all their own way. 

At 64 minutes, a Ben Davies header forced USA goalkeeper Matt Turner to make his first meaningful save, a reaction parry in a crowded penalty area. Moore rose tallest to the resulting corner and found himself unguarded, but could only guide his header over the crossbar.

Slowly, things began to turn. The USA continued to press, but there was more action coming the other way, more pressure, more threat. 

Eventually, a crack appeared. The Americans had been physical with Bale all evening, such is his danger level, and Zimmerman went a little too hard with a challenge in the area. 

Suddenly, it was all square, and so it ended. 

Not back to square one, but the USA left with much work to do, and much to ponder.