Falcons' Darnell Mooney: 'I didn't come here for 1,000 yards; I came here to win'

Wide receiver Darnell Mooney is entering his second season with the Atlanta Falcons, and he has one goal in mind: winning.

"I didn't really come here [to Atlanta] for 1,000 yards. I came here to win," Mooney said 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."

Darnell Mooney had 992 receiving yards in 2024. (Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)

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.

Mooney offered up analysis on his 2024 performance.

"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."

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 career with the Chicago Bears (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.

Mooney is part of a Falcons' pass-catching corps that includes wide receivers Drake London — who totaled a career high in receptions (100), receiving yards (1,271) and receiving touchdowns (nine) in 2024 — and Ray-Ray McCloud (career-high with both 62 receptions and 686 receiving yards in 2024) and