{"id":8540,"date":"2025-05-31T16:49:49","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T16:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umyonews.site\/index.php\/2025\/05\/31\/falcons-darnell-mooney-i-didnt-come-here-for-1000-yards-i-came-here-to-win\/"},"modified":"2025-05-31T16:49:49","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T16:49:49","slug":"falcons-darnell-mooney-i-didnt-come-here-for-1000-yards-i-came-here-to-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umyonews.site\/index.php\/2025\/05\/31\/falcons-darnell-mooney-i-didnt-come-here-for-1000-yards-i-came-here-to-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Falcons’ Darnell Mooney: ‘I didn’t come here for 1,000 yards; I came here to win’"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Wide receiver Darnell Mooney<\/a> is entering his second season with the Atlanta Falcons<\/a>, and he has one goal in mind: winning.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t really come here [to Atlanta] for 1,000 yards. I came here to win,” Mooney said<\/a> Friday, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “So, for, you know, anybody that’s like creating that as a top tier for the receivers, that’s not what I came here to do. I came here to win games.”<\/p>\n

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Darnell Mooney had 992 receiving yards in 2024. (Photo by Ian Maule\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n

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Mooney totaled 64 receptions for 992 yards (a career-high 15.5 yards per reception) and a career-high five touchdowns last season. He ranked 36th among wide receivers with a 74.0 overall grade, according to Pro Football Focus. Mooney missed one game due to a shoulder injury, which was a Week 18 matchup against the Carolina Panthers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mooney offered up analysis on his 2024 performance.<\/p>\n

“I did pretty well with the deep routes, and the biggest thing that I want to do is catch the ball and take something to the [end zone],” Mooney said. “Make at least three people miss, have some exciting plays.”<\/p>\n

Mooney is entering the second season of a three-year, $39 million deal with the Falcons. The receiver spent the first four seasons of his NFL<\/a> career with the Chicago Bears<\/a> (2020-23), where he totaled 81 receptions for 1,055 yards and four touchdowns in 2021. Granted, Mooney averaged just 36 receptions for 454 receiving yards per season from 2022-23.<\/p>\n

Mooney is part of a Falcons’ pass-catching corps that includes wide receivers Drake London<\/a> \u2014 who totaled a career high in receptions (100), receiving yards (1,271) and receiving touchdowns (nine) in 2024 \u2014 and Ray-Ray McCloud<\/a> (career-high with both 62 receptions and 686 receiving yards in 2024) and tight end Kyle Pitts<\/a>. Atlanta also has star running back Bijan Robinson<\/a>, who earned a Pro Bowl nod last season after rushing for 1,456 yards and 14 touchdowns, while tallying 431 receiving yards.<\/p>\n

Atlanta benched veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins<\/a> for Michael Penix Jr.<\/a>, selected with the No. 8 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of Washington<\/a>, after 14 games. The Falcons went 1-2 with Penix under center and missed the playoffs with an 8-9 record.<\/p>\n

That said, Penix is Atlanta’s future at quarterback, and Mooney is enthusiastic about what’s to come with the second-year signal-caller.<\/p>\n

“He throws the ball very, very far,” Mooney said about Penix. “He has a strong arm. He can get it out whenever he needs to. Like, if it feels like he’s late, he won’t be late. He can get the ball there in time.”<\/p>\n

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