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FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — When Darnell Mooney signed with the Falcons in the offseason, he called Drake London immediately. He told London: “We’re going to do this thing together.”
Flash forward almost 10 months later, and they’ve done exactly that to become one of the top wide receiver duos in the league.
“After that call, I saw it as — that’s 1A, 1B,” London said. “We’re going to attack people. We’re going to go full-fledged at that. And ever since, it’s just been that.”
London was the only Falcons wide receiver to record more than 750 yards in the last two seasons. Now, Mooney and London have the chance to become the first pair of receivers to notch 1,000 yards since Julio Jones and Roddy White did so in 2012.
London surpassed 1,000 yards in Week 17 for the first time in his career. Mooney needs just 8 yards to reach the milestone; however, he did not participate in Friday’s practice and was listed as questionable for Sunday due to a shoulder injury on the team’s injury report.
Regardless of Mooney’s status for the regular season finale, this is what the Falcons’ coaching staff envisioned for the receivers ahead of the season.
“In free agency, Darnell was our top target to try to get to complement Drake’s skillset. His speed and one-on-one ability was something that we all liked,” Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said. “As we started putting this whole thing together in the spring, you could see how it could complement, how they could work well together. It’s kind of just grown and taken a life of its own.”
Mooney and London have been described as the cerebral and emotional leaders by Falcons head coach Raheem Morris. Mooney is the head. London is the heart.
When Mooney drew interest from the Falcons during free agency they liked what he put on tape. They liked his speed, they liked how he was seemingly always open. After Mooney got in the building, they realized how methodical he was. The wide receiver meets with Robinson every Friday after practice to go over the game plan.
“We hit all the passes and he just wants to know, ‘Hey, what are we thinking here?’ Robinson said. “He does a great job relaying those things to the guys on game day. If there’s somebody that’s getting lined up and they’re not quite sure, he knows all the spots. He knows every position. It’s really impressive.”
