Expect Julio Jones (only a ‘5 or 6′ last year?) to take over
Julio Jones (center) may make more impact plays than Roddy White (left). (Curtis Compton/AJC)
FLOWERY BRANCH – Julio Jones is different. He is not different just because of his rare combination of size, strength and speed for a wide receiver, or because he possesses the ability to be one of the premier players in the NFL. We’ve seen guys with talent.
Jones is quiet. He is humble. He doesn’t spend every waking minute tripping over his ego, his tongue or his Tweets.
Do you know how rare that is for an NFL wide receiver? The position breeds divas. Keyshawn Johnson spent a career screaming, “Throw me the damn ball!” but he might as well have been a spokesman for the position.
Jones doesn’t set goals. He doesn’t write numbers down on a piece of paper and put them in the top desk drawer to check after the season. He doesn’t even think, “I want to be the greatest wide receiver in NFL history.”
His career objectives are simpler. More common-man-like.
“When it’s over,” he said, “I just want to look back and think, ‘I left everything on the field.’”
He was sitting in a quiet office following Falcons practice Tuesday. The subject was one he would prefer to avoid: himself. Unfortunately, he is too good and too important to this team to avoid.
NFL teams don’t trade a blur of draft picks, potentially mortgaging the franchise’s future, for just a pretty good player. They take that leap for difference-makers. They take that leap for guys who can change a game, alter the direction of a season and maybe help redefine a team.
We’re probably going to find out this season just how great Julio Jones is. He had a tremendous rookie season: 54 catches, 959 yards, eight touchdowns. Those are impressive numbers, even before considering this backdrop: 1) He was coming off pre-draft foot surgery that affected his offseason conditioning; 2) He was limited in work with the playbook and quarterback Matt Ryan because of the lockout; 3) He played much of the season with a hamstring injury that forced him to miss three full games and parts of others; 4) He was subjected to the play-calling of Mike Mularkey, who never utilized him in screens or designed nearly enough plays to get Jones the ball in open spaces.
Jones hates being in the spotlight, but he will be central to his team's offense this season. (Curtis Compton/AJC)
When asked about his rookie season, Jones said only, “I was all right.”
On a scale of 1 to 10?
“Maybe five or six.”
And how do you feel now?
“I’m a 10. I feel 100 percent. I know the playbook. Matt and I are on the same page. I have high expectations, not only for myself but for the organization.”
If the Falcons finally take that next step this season, it will be because of Jones. If he doesn’t finish with more receptions than Roddy White, there’s an excellent chance he’ll at least make more impact plays, steal more moments, win more games.
No defender can stay with him in practice. When one is close, Jones goes up to make the catch anyway. He burned Asante Samuel on the second play of an 11-on-11 drill Tuesday. He torched poor 5-foot-9 Robert McClain on another play in the end zone, prompting one fan to yell, “You need somebody taller!”
But you won’t hear bragging from Jones.
“I’m not a selfish person,” he said. “Growing up, that’s just how my mom raised me. I don’t take anything for granted. You don’t know the people around you, so you can’t disrespect them or mistreat them. They might be the same people you meet later in life.”
When asked about potentially having a starring role in the offense, Jones talks about his chemistry with Ryan and gaining the confidence of coaches. It’s always about the bigger picture. “I really don’t care about the spotlight,” he said. “That’s why going to a place like Alabama was good for me. When you put your pads on, you wouldn’t know who’s a walk-on and who’s a scholarship player.”
A recruiting story: Jones was one of the nation’s most sought-after players in 2008. Logic suggested the kid from Foley, Ala., was going to pick the school in Tuscaloosa. But it wasn’t until he met coach Nick Saban that he was sure.
“Growing up, I really didn’t watch a lot of college football,” Jones said. “But one of the reasons I liked Alabama was when I went to visit coach Saban, he said, ‘Well you know, we want you here. But we’re going to win with you or without you.’ I was like, that’s me. I just want to win. I don’t like stuff just given to me.”
If only he were the prototype.
By Jeff Schultz
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161 comments Add your comment
kerryb
August 8th, 2012
7:41 am
Who-he-oh, can you send us a copy of all of your bounty contracts from your disgraced team?
kerryb
August 8th, 2012
7:45 am
Who-he-oh, my guess is that your team is going to be dropping like flies this year. All of the other players in the league know that your disgraced team had contracts out on them. That means that your players have unspoken bounties on them that don’t need paying. My guess is that your undersized QB is going down for the count at some time this year. Payback is a ______.
Buckeye
August 8th, 2012
7:46 am
Can’t wait for Sunday afternoons after watching “built Ford tough” Saturdays.
Larry
August 8th, 2012
8:06 am
CHOKE,
You are proof that evolution CAN go in reverse.
J-Lo
August 8th, 2012
8:06 am
Nobody mentions the inability of defenders to stop Julio from getting into the endzone. Most receivers would have turned only or two of his catches last year into touchdowns. Defenders are statistically much less likely to tackle him than they are to watch him run by them or through them. In the open field he runs like a bat out of hell. He is “The Bat Out of Hell”.
Joe alford
August 8th, 2012
8:10 am
I am VERY concerned about a hamstring issue with Julio. I don’t know why but he just seems like a guy that will always have that issue lingering. I would love to be wrong and I would REALLY love to see Matt get strong on the deep ball. If Julio stays healthy and Matty’s weight lifting help his deep ball….LOOK OUT NFC!!! Go birds!!
ATLER (Ramblin Wreck)
August 8th, 2012
8:13 am
It seems like the AJC and bubble gum arm Mattie Ryan just totally forgot about Roddy White.
ATLER (Ramblin Wreck)
August 8th, 2012
8:15 am
I think Roddy will out do Jones this year. Roddy is one the the elite WRs in the game today. He’s definitely top 10.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
8:18 am
ff Schultz is an idiot
August 8th, 2012
7:15 am
“He burned Asante Samuel on the second play of an 11-on-11 drill Tuesday.”
I have a feeling that’s a trend that will be spilling into the season.
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No Jeff. Only a confirmation when Andy Reid said Asante is in steep decline. Andy Reid knows how to evaluate talent and Dimitroff? Well CHOKE is his legacy
Shug
August 8th, 2012
8:19 am
The only question is whether Julio Jones’ career will be more like Wallace Frances or Alfred Jenkins.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
8:22 am
Falcants I look forward to your annual off season excuses for a 5th straight year of failure…..ha ha
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
8:27 am
I mean seriously how many years does it take to know you are kings of LOSERVILLE?…..
Going on 9 years since the last playoff win. That is beautiful man, beautiful….ha ha
From a beatdown from Green Bay to a humiliation from the Giants (2 points) to dreams of a Superbowl. Can’t even score in the playoffs and all of sudden skip the middle man and reach the top of the mountain….ha ha
John
August 8th, 2012
8:31 am
Assuming he stays healthy (and it takes alot to bring him out of a game), Julio will be in the Andre Johnson, Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald category THIS season. Mark it down.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
8:39 am
Sorry guys but that little crack that you called a window of opportunity has been sealed. Carolina is on the rise. Tampa will return to form, and the Saints will play with a chip on their shoulders.
2007 is backkkkkkkkkkkkk
Falcons Looking for Big Things from a Healthy Julio « Tide Bits
August 8th, 2012
8:46 am
[...] the AJC.com: We’re probably going to find out this season just how great Julio Jones is. He had a tremendous [...]
Mo
August 8th, 2012
8:54 am
@Larry: What are you talking about?
CDFALCONS
August 8th, 2012
9:02 am
A thing to note: is this. The (s)Ain’t will not win the division, nor will they make the playoff’s. The buck stop at the dirty gate of the georgia Dome.
Go Dirty Birds!!!
Mo
August 8th, 2012
9:03 am
M”C”R: You lost all credibility by saying Tampa and Carolina will be relevant in the same season.
The Ghost of Rowland Lawrence........
August 8th, 2012
9:27 am
Julio was not even teh best rookie receiver in his draft clas!!!! Torrie Smith (Ravens) and AJ Green were both better….. take away the games JJ played vs. the woeful Colts and Jags, and Julio comes back to the pack pretty quickly….Add to that the fact the his QB is suspect and it becomes pretty clear the he is destined to be the second coming of ……well every middle of the road, over hyped WR in the NFL…..
dirk diggler
August 8th, 2012
9:35 am
Matt choke Ryan, you said MV would beat the falcons and matt Ryan last year. Do you remember that boy?
D man
August 8th, 2012
9:42 am
Juuuuuullllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiooooooooooooo.
He will be fun to watch this year and beyond. Can’t wait till tomorrow night.
GO FALCONS!!!
KL
August 8th, 2012
9:53 am
I bought tickets to a few more games this year just to watch Julio. Can’t wait!!
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
9:59 am
Mo
August 8th, 2012
9:03 am
M”C”R: You lost all credibility by saying Tampa and Carolina will be relevant in the same season.
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Actually Carolina has the best chance of dethrowning the Saints. In fact some have the Panthers having a breakout season that will send them past the 1st round of the playoffs.
Wouldn’t that be something, Cam doing in 2 years what CHOKE will never do
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
10:03 am
dirk diggler
August 8th, 2012
9:35 am
Matt choke Ryan, you said MV would beat the falcons and matt Ryan last year. Do you remember that boy?
_________________________________________
I also remember Vick being up by some 17 points before he got injured, but if you want to celebrate a win by default that will be the only way CHOKE will beat Vick (while out of the game).
Nice try though. We will see what happens this season when CHOKE takes that NOODLE arm outside of the Dome……ha ha
Hillbilly D
August 8th, 2012
10:05 am
Didn’t know Jones was from Foley. Ken Stabler was also from Foley. Sounds like Jones has a good head on his shoulders.
Mr. Dawg
August 8th, 2012
10:07 am
As long as Ryan has time to throw the ball I too suspect this could be a big season for Julio. One thing is for sure, the passing game needs to be strong. I’m not so sure we can expect Michael Turner to be the same back the Falcons brought in four years ago. I believe he’ll need fewer carries over the course of the season to be efffective when he gets the ball.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
10:08 am
The only good thing about this season is when Artie Blank breaks up this LOSER regime. Finally ending the current misery for the city.
What kind of a loser follows another loser. If you can’t get a playoff win in 3 tries in normal cities would lead to criticizing the qb and not praising him.
Then again, this is the backwards South
Philly & Baltimore in Superbowl.
That would make a great headline……The qb that got away vs the qb that the Falcants should have drafted…..ha ha
BirdDawg25
August 8th, 2012
10:10 am
aaahh ,let the bashing begin. . . , Football season is back and so are all the saints fans and vick fans…. still worried about secondary, Dunta still remains to be seen, grimes , he’s a player but sometimes has hard time covering big recievers. assante, a trade -up from what we had. I still see teams like new orleans,greenbay, san francisco running up the score, look at what the Giants did to them in the play-offs.pardon me for not being as giddy as everyone else ,but Win A Play-off game and i might get excited.maybe the new coordinators will make a difference, who knows…….
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
10:12 am
Mr. Dawg
August 8th, 2012
10:07 am
As long as Ryan has time to throw the ball I too suspect this could be a big season for Julio.
______________________________________
Have you seen how quickly most qbs get rid of the ball? You only need 3 seconds for a play to form. CHOKE needs more time because his arm is so WEAK and he just isn’t SMART enough to figure this out.
Stop blaming the protection. He just isn’t NFL material. 2013 he will be holding a clipboard in Jacksonville or somewhere else
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
10:16 am
All those thrown away draft picks will come home to roost.
Remember the 2nd rounder for Gonzalez?
Remember the whole draft for Jones?
Gonzalez will be retiring….his replacement?
Abe is on his last leg…..his replacement?
Turner is on the decline because of over use….his replacement?
You guys think things are bad now, wait for the next seasons to come.
CHOKE has set the franchise wayyyyyyyyyyyy back.
Get used to watching the Falcants go back to the basement again
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
10:17 am
OVER & UNDER
Flacco winning another playoff game or CHOKE failing again.
Operators are standing by
PMC
August 8th, 2012
10:18 am
The offseason is going to make a huge difference in the timing between Ryan and Jones. Ryan is going to have a lot more confidence throwing to him when he’s covered. I expect to see more plays like the TD catch against Indianapolis last year.
This team needs to counter better this season. Julio is a big part of that.
Jay
August 8th, 2012
10:21 am
Julio will go only as far as his noodle-armed QB will take him, which is not very far. We won’t see Julio dominate until we get a QB with arm strength in here.
Falcon James
August 8th, 2012
10:29 am
I can’t wait to see this ‘10′ eat up the opposing secondary’s. This is going to be a very exciting season to be a Falcon fan. I hope Roddy is ready to go as well. Like most people, I question if our OL is going to provide enough protection for deep routes. Even if we are average, I think we can eat up yards with runs after the catch. Short passes and a good screen game will keep defenses honest.
The Ghost of Rowland Lawrence........
August 8th, 2012
10:33 am
OK fellas…lay off of “Wac” Ryan….. When teh season is done, The press and the higer-up will finda reason to pass the blame…Maybe it will be teh strenght and conditioning coach, or the lady the lady that stitches up the uniforms…or maybe, just maybe it will be the guy that washes teh dishes in the chow hall up at Falconsland… Anything to avoid admitting that TD and MS have failed when it comes to evaluating talent and building a playoff contending roster….
Hillbilly D
August 8th, 2012
10:40 am
I thought it was Rolland Lawrence.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
10:40 am
I like tacos
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
10:41 am
Sorry, I’m bipolar
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
10:42 am
Also a jealous Saint fan
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
10:43 am
I love candy canes and maple syrup.
PMC
August 8th, 2012
10:44 am
Choke is a vick fan folks, not a saints fan. At least get that part right.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
10:50 am
I love Vick too
mark
August 8th, 2012
11:13 am
Andy Reid 14 years as a head coach in the NFL NO Superbowl victories. The Philly fans must have a looser mentality. I mean 14 years with NO RINGS, Bobby Cox was torched in this town for making it to the playoffs and only ONE RING. I will take Matt Ryan any day of the week over Mike Vick, b/c one Ryan competes harder than Vick and two Ryan has not spent the first 5 years of his career smoking dope and setting up dog fighting rings. I loved watching Vick play he did things on the football field no other quarterback can or will do ever. But the guy had NO HEART, so maybe he has now if that is the case I wish him the best of luck, but I will stick with my guy who is all HEART.
Tide Rising
August 8th, 2012
11:17 am
Julio was the most popular player when he was at Bama. I think on fan day Julio had an autograph signing line that was longer than Saban’s. It was precisely because he was a humble, quiet type that people respected and admired him. I’m glad he’s a Falcon. Damn glad.
OPEN YOUR EYES
August 8th, 2012
11:24 am
IF ANY OF YOU FAILCAN’T FANS THINK THIS YEAR WON’T BE DIFFERENT FROM LAST TWO THEN YOOU MIGHT BE SMOKING SOME INDUBIOUS ISHH!!! THE FAILCAN’TS WILL NEVER MAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL WITH MATTY MELTDOWN AS THE QUATERBACK!!!! I ALSO THINK THAT MIKE “VANILLA/PREHISTORIC” SMITH WILL NEVER GET THE JOB DONE AND HIS DAYS ARE NUMBERED!!!!
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
11:36 am
I’m so confused. Where am I? My bipolar personality is “OPEN YOUR EYES”. I can remember to do that in the morning, unlike brushing my tooth.
OPEN YOUR EYES
August 8th, 2012
11:47 am
YOU KNOW ITS SO FUNNY TO SEE IMPOSTERS AND FRAUDS PRTEND TO BE ME AND “CHOKE”!!! HAHAHA I CAN EASILY TELL IF ITS THE REAL “CHOKE” OR NOT!!! I GUESS IT GOES TO SHOW YOU HOW CLASSLESS THESE FAILCAN’T FANS REALLY ARE!!!!
LOL I MEAN NO WONDER YOU GUYS NEVER WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS, ITS BEACUSE THIS CITY HAS THE WORST FANS AND PEOPLE IVE EVER SEEN!! ATLANTA WILL NEVER WIN A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP AND QUITE FRANKLY I HOPE IT STAYS THAT WAY!!!!
Big Ray
August 8th, 2012
11:48 am
Jeremy Maclin & Desean Jackson…………..Didn’t cost them a whole draft to acquire……ha ha
Yeah, and what did they deliver last year? OH that’s right…not even a playoff spot. LOL, wow you’re dumb.
DJ Sniper
August 8th, 2012
11:57 am
Can anybody explain to me why Choke comes here to post every day? What a moron.
Anyway, to whoever it was who expressed concern about Julio’s hamstring issues from last year, I can say that it shouldn’t be much of an issue this year. Julio said that his foot injury prevented him from working out for a while last year, and as a result, his core was weak. He came out and started running full speed and that’s what caused the hammy issues. With a full offseason, he will be good to go.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
August 8th, 2012
12:16 pm
Big Ray
August 8th, 2012
11:48 am
Jeremy Maclin & Desean Jackson…………..Didn’t cost them a whole draft to acquire……ha ha
Yeah, and what did they deliver last year? OH that’s right…not even a playoff spot. LOL, wow you’re dumb.
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ZERO points in a playoff game is not dumb?….you are stupid and ignorant.
Win a playoff game for God’s sake….ha ha