As the Atlanta Falcons continue their training camp in Flowery Branch, wide receiver Darnell Mooney remains sidelined after suffering a shoulder injury during the first day of practice last week. The team has stated that Mooney will be out for “a few weeks” as he recovers.
Head coach Raheem Morris addressed questions about Mooney’s potential return date when the team put on pads Tuesday but did not provide a definitive timeline. “We’re going with a few weeks right now, and then we’ll play it out after we get to that point,” Morris said. “When we get to that point, we’ll figure out where we’re at.”
Morris expressed hope that Mooney would be ready for the start of the regular season but stopped short of making any guarantees. This uncertainty raises questions about who will step into Mooney’s role if he is not available at the beginning of the season.
The Falcons’ coaching staff, including offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, have used the term “clones” to describe how they build depth among receivers. While some positions like offensive line focus on fielding the best players regardless of position, receiver roles are more specialized and require similar body types and play styles to fill specific spots.
Mooney serves as the X receiver in Robinson’s system. When he missed last season’s finale due to another shoulder injury, Ray-Ray McCloud primarily filled his spot. In current practices without Mooney, McCloud continues in this role while KhaDarel Hodge fills in where Drake London is not positioned during three-receiver sets. Tight end Kyle Pitts was absent from team drills Thursday due to a modified practice schedule, so London, McCloud, and Hodge received significant work together alongside tight ends Charlie Woerner and Teagan Quitoriano.
Other players also have an opportunity to earn more playing time with Mooney out. Morris highlighted Casey Washington as someone benefiting from increased reps: “We got a chance to see a young guy like Casey Washington be able to accumulate more reps the other day,” Morris said. “(We’re) able to watch him go out there and grow and perform and be the best version of himself and what he’s able to do because he’s able to get more reps and be able to go prove himself in those settings.”
Chris Blair was also mentioned by Morris as acting as London’s clone for second-team drills but is being cross-trained for versatility. Additionally, recent signing DJ Chark could fill in as a deep threat similar to Mooney given his speed and experience stretching defenses vertically.
“There’s opportunity for those guys to be able to go show out at the spot that Mooney plays when you’re talking about the guy that’s the deep threat, you’re talking about a guy that can run intermediate routes,” Morris said. “You’re talking about the guy that can move inside, move around, do different things and provides that speed element that Mooney definitely provides to us.”
Morris acknowledged it is difficult to replace a starting X receiver directly but believes several players are capable of handling aspects of Mooney’s responsibilities: “It’s hard to replace your starting X, your Mooney, but we’ve got people in place that are clone-like to be able to go in there and do some of those things for us that we’re going to need to get done,” he concluded. “It’s fun to watch those guys do it as well.”
