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The Indianapolis Colts have yet to make it official, but The Athletic’s Zak Keefer reported that the team will be without 2021 Pro Bowl cornerback Kenny Moore II in Week 13.
It also wouldn’t be surprising if Moore misses more than one game.
In addition to Keefer, multiple other reporters tweeted that they saw Moore on a scooter in the locker room after Monday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Moore left the contest in the second half with a shin injury.
Disappointing Season for Moore Gets Worse
The 27-year-old slot cornerback played arguably his best NFL season last year, recording 102 combined tackles, including 6 tackles for loss with 4 interceptions and a sack. But Moore’s 2022 season has been rocky from the start.
Moore sat out offseason workouts before minicamp in an effort to land a new contract. The fact he wanted a new deal despite still having two years remaining on his current contract remained a talking point into training camp.
Whether or not that was a factor to the start of the season, Moore didn’t play up to his standard in September. Pro Football Focus gave him a player grade below 50 out of 100 in four of the first six weeks, including three of the first four games.
Moore has played better recently, but he still doesn’t have an interception and only 1.0 sack. He has 65 combined tackles, including 4 for loss in 12 games this year.
According to the PFF grades, this has been Moore’s worst season in the NFL. After Week 12, PFF has Moore ranked 60th out of 81 cornerbacks who have played at least 50% of his team’s defensive snaps this season.
Moore has allowed opposing receivers to catch 76.3% of their targets and average 10.4 yards per reception this season. During 2022, opposing quarterbacks also have a 121.4 passer rating when throwing at pass catchers with Moore in coverage.
How the Colts Replace Moore Against Cowboys
Not that losing Moore at anytime would be a good thing for Indianapolis, but the timing is particularly bad this week.
The Dallas Cowboys can utilize three-wide receiver sets with CeeDee Lamb, Noah Brown and Michael Gallup all on the field at the same time. Although the Colts have depth at cornerback to combat those wideouts, Moore is, at least on paper, the best Indianapolis has in the slot.
Without Moore, Isaiah Rodgers should see more opportunities. He’s played more lately, but Rodgers has mostly shared snaps with fellow cornerback Brandon Facyson on the outside this season. Both Rodgers and Facyson have played 39-42% of the team’s defensive snaps in 2022.
Rodgers and Facyson could both be on the field a lot with Moore likely set not to play. Through 12 weeks, Moore is third on the team with 773 defensive snaps this season.
Fellow cornerback Tony Brown could play more as well. Brown has been a special teams ace this season, but after Moore left in Week 12, he played his first 8 defensive snaps of 2022.
Indianapolis will try to piece their cornerback situation together this week with those three players, but fortunately, Indianapolis has former Defensive Player of the Year winner Stephon Gilmore to shutdown one side of the field. Gilmore is second on the team with 774 defensive snaps in 2022.
The Colts will visit the Cowboys on Sunday night.
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