LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There have been thousands of chapters in the Trinity-St. Xavier football rivalry, but this 2024 NFL storyline has already earned a headline:
How are things developing for receiver Rondale Moore (Trinity, Purdue) and quarterback Desmond Ridder (St. X, Cincinnati) since Arizona sent Moore to Atlanta in a trade for Ridder last March?
In Atlanta, Falcons' personnel were hoping for good news on the leg injury that Moore suffered Wednesday during a controlled scrimmage against the Dolphins in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Update: On Thursday, the Falcons moved Moore to the injured reserved list and said he would miss the 2024 season.)
Moore went down with a lower leg injury in the left corner of the end zone on a play where Falcons' quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was actually throwing the football to former Kentucky receiver Josh Ali on the other side of the field. His lower right leg was placed in an air cast and Moore was taken off the field on a stretcher.
Hopefully, everything will work out but just waiting on more information like everybody else," Falcons defensive lineman Grady Jarrett told a reporter from Sports Illustrated' Falcons' coverage page.
"It's always tough when you see a player go down. It's unexpected and heartbreaking, not much of a heartbreak like it, but, first and foremost you always worry about the person's well-being."
Moore, a native of New Albany who starred for coach Bob Beatty at Trinity, is 24 years old and beginning his fourth NFL season after the Cardinals drafted him in the second round with the 49th overall pick in 2021.
Injuries have limited him to 39 games (13) starts. Only three of his 135 receptions have resulted in touchdowns after Moore caught 178 balls for 14 scores in parts of three seasons for Jeff Brohm at Purdue.
Moore was listed as a backup to first-team slot receiver Darnell Mooney on the Falcons' first depth chart of summer camp. The Falcons will play at Miami in their exhibition opener Friday night.
"Certainly, our thoughts and prayers are with Rondale," Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins told D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution after practice. "Not really sure what's going on there. Hopefully, it's not too serious."
Ridder is locked in a battle with Clayton Tune to serve as Kyler Murray's backup quarterback with the Cardinals.
After leading Cincinnati to a 14-1 season and a spot in the college football playoff, Ridder was drafted in Round 3 (pick 74) by Atlanta in 2022.
He started 17 games over the last two seasons. Although Ridder completed better than 64% of his throws for more than 2,800 yards last season, he finished with only 12 scoring passes and 12 interceptions.
After head coach Arthur Smith and the coaching staff that drafted Ridder was fired, the Falcons moved on, acquiring Kirk Cousins from Minnesota. Murray will be Arizona's starting quarterback in 2024, but Ridder will have opportunity to win the backup position, beginning Saturday night when Arizona opens exhibition play against New Orleans.
The Cardinals have yet to announce which quarterback will start against the Saints, but Ridder was listed as the No. 2 player at the position in the latest depth chart.
"I'm excited to get out there on Saturday to kind of see it," Ridder told Zach Gershman of Azcardinals.com. "Be able to play against a different color other than red and be able to go out there and let it fly.
"It's huge being able to go out and play in any game. Any day I get to go out and strap up my uniform and get to go out there to go play football, it's just a dream."
Last spring, following the trade, Ridder suggested that he felt the pressure of trying of trying to turn the Falcons' 2023 season around in a year when the coaching staff was on the hot seat. Ridder told Josh Weinfuss of ESPN that he intended to play with less stress in Arizona.
"One thing I wanna improve is just going out there playing free," Ridder told Weinfuss of ESPN.com. "A lot of the times I felt like I was playing not to mess it up, not to screw it up.
"And so just to be able to go out there, play free, play loose, play within the system. And then there were a lot of good things that I did on film and then there were some bad things. It just happened to be that those bad things outweighed the good.
"There was a lot of the games where it was 90% good and 10% bad, and in those 10%, that just happened to be the determining factor of the game."
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