Falcons Coach Makes Stunning Admission About Darnell Mooney’s Injury

FLOWERY BRANCH, GA – The Atlanta Falcons are fighting desperately to get their season back on track after dropping their fourth-straight game in Week 10. One major reason for that is their inability to get wide receiver Darnell Mooney going, and Falcons head coach Raheem Morris had an eye-opening admission about why that may be the case. 

After a breakout 2024 season where he caught 64 passes for 992 yards and five touchdowns, Mooney has struggled to recapture that form in 2025.

Through 10 weeks and six full games played, the veteran has struggled, notching just 13 receptions (35 targets) for 190 yards. Of the players who have run at least 200 routes, no one in the NFL has a lower catch rate than Mooney (37.1%).

Injuries, drops, and a general lack of cohesion with second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. have derailed his season. The Falcons’ deep threat has not been able to fill that role in 2025. 

Morris has been asked several times about what has slowed the progression of their connection, dating back to the initial injury he picked up during training camp. No clear injury update was provided, aside from Mooney missing a “few weeks,” but the head coach gave some insight into why the injury has seemed to linger over this season. 

During his weekly interview with Dukes & Bell on the Falcons’ flagship station, 92.9 The Game, Morris finally provided the answer to why Mooney missed the time he did over the summer.

“He’s been coming up to speed, which I love,” Morris said during this interview. To which Carl Dukes pressed the Falcons’ head coach on what can be expected of the wideout moving forward. 

“You don’t make excuses, you never talk about these things, but we knew how this would work,” Morris said before making the shocking admission that had not been known before. 

“Mooney broke his collarbone on the first play of training camp,” the Falcons head coach said. “He missed all that time and came back the second week of the season. That was the first time they [Mooney and Penix] actually practiced together. You start working those practices, you knew the four weeks of the season would almost be like training camp for him.

“So you’re working those things in, you’re getting him going, you’re getting his legs back, and running fast, all those things. Then he had the small setback with the hamstring, and he misses the two weeks.” 

Injuries have piled up – first the collarbone in July, then the hamstring setback that cost him more time in the fall. 

Despite the ailments that have slowed his season, the Falcons’ staff is still confident he can get going in the season’s second half. 

“I anticipate Mooney kind of taking off from here,” offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said on October 29th. “He's finally getting his legs back. Obviously, we know what he can do at a high level. Had a great season last year. Just the training camp, missing that, and then kind of getting back into the flow, getting his legs back, getting the hammy back, all those things. So, I anticipate Mooney taking a big jump from this point forward.”

The Falcons’ play-caller doubled down on that statement on Wednesday, saying he’s “so close to breaking out.”

Whether or not he can show some improvement down the stretch of the season remains to be seen. His next opportunity will be this Sunday in Week 11 against the Carolina Panthers. 

However, what doesn’t make sense is why the Falcons didn’t push to acquire more players to prevent the situation the team now finds itself in. This injury takes several weeks to months to recover from. Morris then acknowledged there would be an additional ramp-up period. 

Veteran D.J. Chark Jr. was the only significant addition after the injury, but he was cut just a few weeks later. The Falcons have since leaned on a now-released Ray-Ray McCloud, David Sills V, and Casey Washington to be the secondary option for Drake London in the wide receiver room. 

And their production has not been nearly enough to support a young quarterback who is in the early phases of his development. London has 53 receptions for 691 yards and six touchdowns this season, while the other wideouts (including McCloud) on this roster have combined for 31 receptions for 402 yards and no touchdowns.

The Falcons took a risk, and it burned them. 

With eight games left, Mooney is finally healthy. Now, the Falcons need that long-awaited connection with Penix to materialize before the season is lost entirely.