ESPN BREAKING: Arthur Blank finally breaks his silence on head coach Arthur smith future at Falcons after declines request to speak to media after ugly Week 17 loss to Bears hurts playoff chances

Falcons owner Arthur Blank stated a few weeks ago that the team is committed to head coach Arthur Smith, but that they will evaluate the situation at the end of the season.

Blank declined an opportunity to speak further about Smith or the team during Sunday’s 37-17 loss in Chicago. The loss drops them to 7-9, and in order to win the division, they must beat the Saints in Week 18 while the Buccaneers lose to the Panthers.

According to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, media covering the team asked to speak with Blank, but a team spokeswoman stated “he’s not going to talk.”

Blank may not have had much reason to speak right now. There’s no reason to expect he’ll make a change with one week left in the season if he wasn’t going to make one after losses to the Bucs and Panthers moved the team to the outside of the postseason picture.

Whatever happens next week, Blank will have to make a decision about resuming operations with a coach who is now 21-29 and guaranteed to have a third consecutive losing season in a division that has been there for the taking the previous two seasons.