The first time Nick Moore ran following his Achilles tear a year ago was when his 1-year-old son was about to crawl down the stairs.
Instead of snapping for Justin Tucker last season, Moore was in a race with his son, Rylan, to walk. Daddy won by a hair, perhaps because that heart-stopping moment sped things up a bit.
"I had to save my little man, so I just reacted," Moore said. "It turned my mind off to protect my leg. I was like, 'Oh, huh, my leg still feels pretty good.'"
It has been a long, arduous rehab process for Moore, who was back on the field for Ravens Organized Team Activities and minicamp. He says it will probably be another year before he's fully physically back to where he once was, but he feels good enough to snap at a high level again.
Moore was named a second-team All-Pro following the 2022 season. It was a big honor, especially considering it was his second year since replacing highly respected longtime Ravens long snapper Morgan Cox. Moore signed a two-year contract with Baltimore last March.
Moore felt like he was hitting his stride as a professional, but four days before last year's training camp, while at McDaniel College testing his ability to pass the upcoming Ravens conditioning test, his Achilles had a "catastrophic failure."
"It was a pretty gruesome injury," Moore said. "The rehab process was – still is – very tough. I've battled through a lot of that stuff and worked much harder than I would have worked had I been healthy and playing."
Moore had never missed any sporting event due to injury before, so the monotony and pain of the rehab process as he tried to regain range of motion and strength in his foot/lower leg was all new. The first time he put his right foot on the ground was six weeks after surgery. The first time he walked was about eight weeks in. Moore started walking without a limp on Dec. 1. His kid took his first steps that same week, at about 10 months old.
"My amazing wife kept his head on straight and the organization took good care of me," Moore said. "My son really helped. We were kind of learning to walk together. It was honestly probably a good thing for me because he was crawling around like crazy and moving around the house.
"It was literally baby steps till about three months [after surgery]. It's re-learning all that stuff that you learn as a child, really an infant, that your brain never fully understands. You just know that's how you do it."
Moore's replacement, Tyler Ott, went out of his way to offer support and make sure Moore still felt connected with the team. Ott, who had suffered a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the entire 2022 season, didn't have the same experience the year before in Seattle and wanted to do better by Moore.
"I thought Tyler came in like a professional and played really well. We became really good friends," Moore said. "Biasedly, I'm glad he's not here because I love it here, but he's in a good situation [with the Washington Commanders] and got himself a really nice contract."
The Ravens put their faith in Moore's ability to get back to top form by reportedly tacking another year onto his contract after the Achilles tear. He's now under contract through 2025. Moore has rewarded that confidence during offseason practices and said he had his best day on the final practice of minicamp.
"I feel really good with where I'm at, so I feel super confident going into training camp," Moore said. "I'm 100 percent when it comes to playing. I've put enough stuff on tape this spring that shows that I can still move and still play at a high level.
"At the end of the day, everything happens for a reason. I grew up a lot as an individual and learned a lot about myself and my family. But watching from afar is definitely not something I ever want to do again. It was not super fun."
