FLOWERY BRANCH — Veteran wide receiver DJ Chark Jr., a former Pro Bowler, was signed by the Falcons on Saturday.
On Saturday morning, he participated in his first practice with the team. Starting wide receiver Darnell Mooney, who suffered a shoulder injury at the end of practice Thursday, attended practice Saturday but was not in uniform. He’s set to miss a few weeks, according to the team.
“That workout was already set up,” Falcons assistant general manager Kyle Smith said of Chark. “DJ was already coming in. With Darnell, that’s part of the (game). Those things happen, and we’re always ready to find solutions and add to the roster anytime that we can.”
The Falcons are not sure how long Mooney will be out.
“We have tremendous confidence in our performance staff, training staff, doctors and Darnell the way he is,” Smith said. “He’ll get back as soon as he can.”
Chark, who’s 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, played last season with the Chargers. He’s been slowed by injuries late in his career.
“We remember him from college, and you track him throughout his career,” Smith said. “His skill set, he’s always had straight line speed and he’s a bigger guy. He can stretch the field a little bit. He’s an experienced guy, a veteran guy that will come in the mix and compete for a spot.”
Chark, who is set to turn 29 in September, was drafted by the Jaguars in the second round (61st overall) of the 2018 NFL draft out of LSU.
In seven seasons with the Jaguars (2018-21), Detroit Lions (2022), Carolina Panthers (2023) and Los Angeles Chargers (2024), Chark has played in 76 games and made 51 starts. He has 216 catches for 3,100 yards and 24 touchdowns.
In 2019, he was named to the Pro Bowl after catching 73 passes for 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns for the Jaguars.
Scouting-department moves: Alex Brown, a former general manager at SMU who also worked at Rice and Houston, was hired recently as the Falcons’ West Coast scout. Brown was most recently the director of player personnel at Ole Miss.
“Then we move up our old West Coast scout, James McClintock, he’s going to be an area scout for us,” Smith said. “Then we have scouting assistants and interns and all of those things.”
McClintock announced on his LinkedIn page that he’ll be the Falcons’ Midlands area scout. He had been with Blesto for the past two seasons after serving as a scouting assistant with the Falcons from June 2022 to June 2023.
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