Wide receiver Rondale Moore suffered a right knee injury last August with the Atlanta Falcons during a joint practice that cost him the entire 2024 season. Almost a year later to the day, Moore went down again, this time while playing for the Minnesota Vikings in Saturday’s preseason opener against the Houston Texans.
Moore, who fielded 22 punts in three seasons with the Arizona Cardinals — including 21 his rookie year in 2021 — tried to break one for a big gain in the second quarter versus the Texans.
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But after bouncing to the right and searching for the edge, he was dragged down near the sideline by Houston linebacker Jamal Hill.
Moore immediately signaled that something was wrong, and Minnesota athletic trainers and medical personnel sprinted out to help.
The Athletic’s Alec Lewis reported that Moore wasn’t putting any weight on his left leg. Vikings staffers assisted him onto the cart, which Moore reportedly slammed in frustration. The former second-round pick and Purdue star was driven off the field while he covered his face with a towel.
Moore signed with the Vikings in March with an eye toward a career renaissance in Minnesota. He arrived with a chance to compete for WR3 snaps behind the team’s top receiving duo of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. His window of opportunity appeared to grow larger earlier this week when Addison was dealt a three-game suspension by the NFL in connection to a DUI charge from 2024.
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Before Moore’s season-ending injury in Atlanta, he started 23 games at wideout across three seasons with the Cardinals, who selected him No. 49 overall in the 2021 draft.
During his three-year stay in Arizona, 67.3% of his pass snaps came in the slot, according to Pro Football Focus. His best receiving season came in Year 1 when he caught a career-high 54 passes for 435 yards and, per PFF, forced 13 missed tackles. He also averaged 8.1 yards per punt return with a long of 27 yards.
Unfortunately for Moore, though, he found the end zone only once that year.
Moore never hit the 500-yard single-season receiving mark with the Cardinals. While Arizona found creative ways to get the ball in his hands — he carried it 28 times for 178 yards and a touchdown in 2023 — the 5-foot-7, 181-pound receiver didn’t find the extra gear he consistently reached at Purdue.
Moore came to Minnesota in search of that kind of explosion.
His injury Saturday may have handcuffed that pursuit with another delay.
