ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons have ruled wide receiver Darnell Mooney out of Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Carolina Panthers.

Mooney landed on the Falcons’ injury report on Thursday with a shoulder injury. He was listed as limited that day before being downgraded to a non-participant in Friday’s practice. Before the weekend began, he was given a questionable game designation.

This is an unfortunate conclusion to Mooney’s regular season as he was eight yards away from surpassing 1,000 receiving yards on the year. Fellow receiver Drake London surpassed the same mark already, and if Mooney would have joined him the duo would have been the first Falcons pair to hit the 1,000-yard mark since Roddy White and Julio Jones did so in 2012.

Without Mooney, the Falcons will likely deploy more of KhaDarel Hodge and Chris Blair within their receiving rotation. Another option could also be rookie receiver Casey Washington, who is active this Sunday after working through concussion protocol the last month. Sunday’s game has the potential to set up Washington nicely, seeing as Washington is someone who has worked more with new quarterback Michael Penix Jr. than arguably anyone else throughout the 2024 season. Time will tell on that front, though.

In other inactives news, the Falcons have also ruled two key defensive role players out as well. Cornerback Kevin King (concussion) and JD Bertrand (eye) are inactive for Atlanta Sunday. King has been an important piece of depth for the Falcons secondary, rotating in for certain looks. The same goes for Bertrand at the linebacker position since Troy Andersen landed on injured reserve a few weeks ago.

Here is the full list of Falcons inactives for Week 18: