Rondale Moore out for 2024 season due to knee injury

The Atlanta Falcons will be without one of their new weapons for the entire 2024 season. Receiver Rondale Moore is out for the year with a knee injury, the Falcons announced on Thursday.

Moore was carted away from practice on Wednesday after suffering an injury. He has been placed on the reserve/injured list. Atlanta confirmed that Moore is dealing with a right knee injury.

The former Purdue star was injured during a joint practice with the Miami Dolphins in Florida. Moore went down with a non-contact injury.

Rondale Moore was traded to the Falcons this offseason after spending three years with the Arizona Cardinals. Atlanta gave up quarterback Desmond Ridder in the trade.

According to the Falcons website, Moore was listed as a backup at receiver and as a returner, although he had been getting plenty of first-team reps.

With Moore placed on injured receiver, Atlanta added punter Ryan Sanborn to its roster. Sanborn is an undrafted free agent from Texas who averaged 45.7 yards per punt for the Longhorns last season.

Prior to coming to the NFL, Moore spent three seasons at Purdue. He was an All-American as a freshman in 2018 when he had 1,258 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. However, he was banged up for most of the next two years.

In May, Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins talked about how excited he was to play with Moore and the rest of the Falcons receivers. “Just really excited about playing with them,” Cousins said. “They’re great people, they’re hard workers.”

“Probably my favorite part of the job right now is watching film, playing catch with, routes on air, having conversations, sending texts to guys like Kyle Pitts, Drake London, (Darnell) Mooney, Rondale (Moore), Bijan (Robinson), Tyler (Allgeier), Carlos (Washington). I mean the list goes on and on,” Cousins said.

Rondale Moore is one of the ‘faster humans’ in the NFL

One of the reasons the Falcons acquired Moore was his speed. “Rondale might be one of the faster humans in the National Football League,” receivers coach Ike Hilliard said during OTAs, per Sports Illustrated. “We just need him to continue to grow and progress in this offense – that’ll be huge for all of us, just so he can establish himself and carve out a role that is significant to what we try to put on tape.”

Due to his speed, Moore was not only a wide reciever for the Cardinals last year. He also ran the ball efficiently, tallying 178 yards and one touchdown on 28 carries. Before the injury, the Falcons released the depth chart for the first preseason game, and Moore was listed as the No. 2 wide receiver behind Mooney. He was also listed as the backup kickoff returner behind Avery Williams.