Tag: Kylie Fitts

Former Cardinals LB Kylie Fitts to retire after multiple concussions

Former Cardinals outside linebacker Kylie Fitts retired from the league due to recurring concussion issues.

Outside linebacker and core special teams player Kylie Fitts announced his retirement from the NFL on Friday morning. The former sixth-round pick of the Chicago Bears posted on Instagram to announce the news, stating it is no longer safe for him to resume his playing career.

Fitts has been with the Cardinals since 2019. He has suffered from a series of concussions, the most recent coming last October, one that ended his season and effectively, his career.

This was his announcement:

After 21 years of playing, football has come to an end for me. Due to too many concussions and the severity of my recent one, it is no longer safe for me to continue to play. I am so grateful for this game and everything it has taught and brought into my life. Thank you to all my coaches and teammates throughout my career. I am also so thankful for my family and wife who have supported me through all the ups and downs and special thank you to my dad. Spent countless hours, early mornings and late nights helping me reach my goal of always wanting to play in the NFL. I believe we were created beyond just playing the game. I know God has great plans for me and my family and I’m so excited for what he has in store for me next!

Cardinals fans should remember one of the plays made by Fitts against the New York Giants in 2020.

There was also a key moment in the thrilling Cardinals-Seahawks Sunday Night Football in 2020. After the Cards rallied from down ten to send the game to overtime, Fitts perfectly read a pitch to Carlos Hyde, setting the Seahawks back and eventually stalling the drive and forcing them to punt.

We are wishing Fitts and his family the best moving forward.

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Kylie Fitts announces his season over after concussion

Fitts has been out with a concussion and announced on social media that his season is over.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVT_lwGJLPm/?utm_medium=twitter

Kylie Fitts apparently is done playing for the season. The Arizona Cardinals outside linebacker announced via Instagram and Twitter that his season is coming to an end.

He was on the injury report as a non-participant in practice both Wednesday and Thursday this week, listed as having a concussion.

The team as of the time of publishing had not announced any roster moves, but he is going to be placed on injured reserve.

This season, in six games, he played only 22 defensive snaps and another 114 on special teams. He has two tackles.

He has been with the team since 2019.

The Cardinals should have Chandler Jones back from the COVID list this weekend, so the Cardinals are fine at outside linebacker, with Jones, Markus Golden, Devon Kennard, Dennis Gardeck and rookie Vuctor Dimukeje.

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Cardinals protect 3 on practice squad in Week 1

The Cardinals protect LB Kylie Fitts, suggesting that Dennis Gardeck could be inactive against the Tennessee Titans.

The Arizona Cardinals have protected a trio of players on the practice squad, making it so other teams cannot sign them. One name is a name Cardinals fans will recognize.

According to Wednesday’s NFL transaction report, the Cardinals protected three players. They can choose to protect up to four players on the practice squad from being signed by another team to their active roster.

The first round of protections are a pair of cornerbacks and a linebacker.

  • LB Kylie Fitts
  • CB Rasul Douglas
  • CB Antonio Hamilton

The Cardinals can elevate two players to the 53-man roster at the end of the week to be eligible to play on Sunday. Fitts might get that designation this week.

The Cardinals have five outside linebackers on the active roster but Dennis Gardeck is coming off a torn ACL. He fully practiced on Wednesday, but head coach Kliff Kingsbury has said they would take things slow and cautiously with him.

Protecting Fitts suggests Gardeck could be made inactive this week, allowing Fitts to play on special teams in his place.

Douglas and Hamilton were recently signed to the practice squad. They are new to the defensive system. The Cardinals will use Byron Murphy, Robert Alford and rookie Marco Wilson as their three starting cornerbacks, but protecting Douglas and Hamilton mean they want to give them time to learn the system in case Wilson doesn’t work out in the regular season and is too overwhelmed covering NFL receivers as a rookie.

Don’t expect either to be elevated this week for the game.

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These Cardinals’ roles, roster spots in danger after NFL draft

The Cardinals’ draft class could contribute early and will squeeze other players’ playing time or replace them on the roster.

The Arizona Cardinals added seven players in the 2021 NFL draft last month. Some of the players will be expected to contribute immediately. As a result, some older players are in danger of losing playing time while others’ roster spots are far from certain.

Who are the players whose roles or roster spots are now in danger with this draft class?


Cardinals place LB Kylie Fitts on IR, activate C Lamont Gaillard to roster

Fitts is the third outside linebacker to land on IR after Chandler Jones and Dennis Gardeck.

The Arizona Cardinals announced a pair of roster moves on Monday. They placed outside linebacker Kylie Fitts on injured reserve with a hand injury.

Fitts played through a hamstring injury in Week 16 and apparently sustained a hand injury in Saturday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers.

His season is over unless the Cardinals qualify for the postseason and make it deep into the playoffs.

He finishes the year having played in 13 games and starting one. He had nine tackles, a quarterback hit and a forced fumble. The forced fumble came on special teams. He had three special teams tackles this season.

Gaillard was not injured but also was not part of the 53-man roster. The league granted the team a roster exemption for Gaillard for COVID testing protocol.

When he left the team two weeks ago to be there for the birth of his daughter, he broke testing protocol and had to clear it upon his return before being activated. He has now cleared the five consecutive days of negative tests and has been reinstated to the roster.

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New Cardinals DL Leki Fotu to rely on old teammate to adjust to NFL

Before reaching out to new teammates, he is leaning on OLB Kylie Fitts, who was his teammate at Utah for two seasons.

The incoming rookie class will have to adjust to the NFL and being on an NFL team differently than in the past. Typically, rookie spent many, many hours in the team facility, are around teammates, do workouts and drills together.

That isn’t happening yet, as everything so far in the offseason must be virtual, so connecting with new teammates can be a challenge for rookies.

The Cardinals’ fourth-round draft pick, defensive lineman Leki Fotu, has someone to help.

Fotu has not yet reached out to his veteran teammates yet but has reached out to one player he knows.

“I’ve been trying to see the right time to reach out to my teammates, especially the vets, just to get to know them and ask questions learning the playbook and everything,” he said in a video conference with reporters earlier in the week. “But one of the guys that’ give talked to recently is one of my old teammates, (outside linebacker) Kylie Fitts.”

Fitts and Fotu played together at the University of Utah in 2016 and 2017 and now are Cardinals teammates. Fitts, drafted in the sixth round in 2018 by the Chicago Bears, joined the Cardinals last year in September, signing with the practice squad and getting time on the roster in December.

They both are thrilled to be together again. “He’s really excited to have one of his boys down there and I’m excited to see him down there,” Fotu, who has yet to move to Arizona, said.

Rather than just reach out directly to new teammates he does not know yet, Fotu is going to lean on Fitts to transition to having a relationship with the other players on the team.

“Having that relationship that we had here at Utah and knowing that I have one of my old teammates there is going to definitely help with the move down there,” he said. “Also with him being there already having the relationship with the other guys, I feel that it’s going to help me build that relationship with them and everyone else in the D-line room and the entire team when I get down there and start with them.”

It would appear that Fotu wants to get up to speed with some of the mental parts of the NFL before anything.

“I’m trying to play catchup to their level but trying to understand the playbook first, but if I have any questions, I reach out to my D-line coach,” he said. “If I have any issue with anything or questions about anything, I make sure to talk to my old teammate Kylie and, sooner or later, I’ll be talking to everyone else also.”

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

Ep. 266

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Ep.265

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Ranking each Bears draft class under Ryan Pace

When you put each of Bears GM Ryan Pace’s first five draft classes next to one another, how do they stack up?

We’re down to just hours before the 2020 NFL Draft officially begins in Las Vegas, NV virtually, giving teams yet another opportunity to improve their roster as the offseason marches on.

For Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace, this year’s draft will be his sixth and like most GMs, he’s found his share of diamonds in the rough while missing badly on top prospects.

But when you put each of his first five draft classes next to one another, how do they stack up? Below is a ranking of Pace’s worst to best draft classes between 2015 and 2019.

5) 2019 draft class

Daniel Bartel-USA TODAY Sports

Key hits – None

Key misses – None

It seems a little unfair to rank the Bears most-recent draft class in last place, considering the players have only had one season to develop. But the truth is, none of the Bears five picks have shown they are true hits yet. They also relinquished their first and second-round picks when they traded for All-Pro outside linebacker Khalil Mack prior to the 2018 season.

Their first selection didn’t come until pick No. 73, trading up in the third round for running back David Montgomery. The former Cyclone was decent and definitely showed flashes throughout the season, but he wasn’t consistent enough and only averaged 3.7 yards per carry. He wasn’t bad by any means, but he wasn’t a standout. Most notably, he was the only rookie to play a significant amount of snaps.

Their next pick, wide receiver Riley Ridley, didn’t play a single down until Week 13 and failed to make an impact. Cornerback Duke Shelley, the Bears’ sixth-round pick, spent a large portion of the season inactive, and their pair of seventh-rounders in running back Kerrith Whyte Jr. and cornerback Stephen Denmark were released and spent the year on the practice squad, respectively.

It was a rough year for this rookie class, but the bright side for this group is Montgomery, Ridley, and Shelley will have more opportunities to prove themselves and take the next step in their careers in Year 2.

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Cardinals sign DL Caraun Reid, promote Kylie Fitts, Tanner Vallejo to active roster

The Cardinals also released Pete Robertson.

The Arizona Cardinals made some roster moves Wednesday as they began the week of practice in Week 14. They had two open roster spots after waiving cornerback Tramaine Brock and running back Zach Zenner on Monday. They added a third vacancy by releasing linebacker Pete Robertson, who spent most of the season on the practice squad and promoted in November.

To fill those vacancies, they promoted two from the practice squad and signed a veteran.

They signed veteran defensive lineman Caraun Reid, as Jonathan Bullard is expected to miss a couple of weeks with a hamstring injury.

Reid has not been in the league this year. It is his sixth NFL season and he has played for the Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Chargers and Dallas Cowboys. He has played in 44 career games, starting 13. He has 46 career tackles, 3.5 sacks, a forced fumble and two fumbles recoveries, both of which he returned for touchdowns.

The Cardinals promoted linebackers Tanner Vallejo and Kylie Fitts from the practice squad to the active roster.

Vallejo was signed to the practice squad last month after he was released by the Washington Redskins. He played nine games for them after he was released after the preseason by the Cardinals. He plays inside linebacker.

Fitts has been on the practice squad all season. He was a sixth-round pick of the Chicago Bears in 2018 and played in seven games as a rookie. He is a 6-4, 260-pound outside linebacker.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

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