It was a difficult week for Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Chris Moore when Zay Jones was reinstated from a five-game suspension on Oct. 7.
Two days later, Moore’s contract was terminated although his locker wasn’t torn down, creating the impression he would be back. That happened on Oct. 11 when he was signed to the practice squad.
Only 21-plus days later, in practices this week preparing for the Chicago Bears in Week 9, Moore wore a No. 40 jersey as the Pat Tillman scout team player of the week for his practice work in preparation for last week’s game against the Miami Dolphins.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon said, “He’s a pro, man. He puts a lot into his craft, and we feel really comfortable about his role ascending on the drop of a dime. He can do that for us, so glad he’s here.”
Asked how tough the few days of somewhat uncertainty were, Moore told Cards Wire, “I’m a professional. I come to work; it’s how I provide for my family and take care of them, so whatever they need me to do, whatever they ask me to do, that’s what I’m going to do. Definitely, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to be on the roster and playing every week, but right now this is my role and I’ll do my best to provide what they need.”
What they needed last week were receivers to emulate Dolphins standouts Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in practice. Moore wore Waddle’s No. 17, while practice-squad receiver Andre Baccellia, who won the Tillman award in Week 3, wore Hill’s No. 10.
Noting that Baccellia is “faster than me, so he was the guy for Tyreek,” Moore said what they do each week “brings a lot of value. It helps the defense get a look for what they’re about to see, especially when you try to play up to those players’ strengths. For example, Waddle is a speed guy and he’s fast, so last week I was trying to show the defense that with his speed and how he gets off the ball and gets into his routes.”
Safety Budda Baker discussed how crucial that is.
He said, “The way we prepare, it’s very important, just understanding for example, if a route is going to be at 12-to-15 yards, don’t shorten it out to try and get open or to put it upon yourselves. We always talk about team over you, so just understanding to have that ability to do all the correct things within the assignment of the scout team is definitely very important for us.
“It makes us better and also lets us see it before the game so when the game happens, we understand what this route concept is or what these routes are and they’re run at the exact depth in games. So in practice they got to be run at that as well. He does a great job each and every week as do a lot of our receivers and what I like to say is: We work at work, so they do a great job.”
As for wearing Tillman’s number this week, Moore said, “It’s definitely an honor and a privilege from the stories they talk about him being a seventh-round pick and his work ethic on and off the field. It’s an honor for the team to recognize me and my work.
“I was familiar with his name because his story is special and everything, but I didn’t know too much about him until I got in the building and you see the memorial out there for him and you can see how truly great he was.”
The motivation is evident each week in the locker room for those competing for the Tillman honor.
“It’s something special and they recognize you,” Moore concluded. “Everybody is saying, ‘I wonder who’s going to get it this week,’ so it’s definitely talked about.”
2024 Pat Tillman Scout-Team Award Winners
Week 1: RB Michael Carter (practice squad)
Week 2: LB Markus Bailey (practice squad)
Week 3: WR Andre Baccellia (practice squad)
Week 4: OL Jon Gaines II
Week 5: WR Xavier Weaver
Week 6: DL P.J. Mustipher (practice squad)
Week 7: S Joey Blount
Week 8: WR Chris Moore (practice squad)
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