FLOWERY BRANCH -- Falcons All-Pro wide receiver Julio Jones is starting to practice himself into form.
Here's what he had to say after practice on Monday:
On how practice was today:
“It was great. You know, got cloud coverage today, wasn’t as hot as yesterday. Guys moved around and had great tempo. We were competing today.”
On if he was surprised about Lance Moore’s retirement:
“Yeah, I talked to him earlier today. His heart is in it, but he just doesn’t have that love for the game anymore. He’s just coming in late. We got a lot of young guys and he just respects everything the young guys have been doing. He didn’t want to come in and basically pull the vet card, like ‘Taking y’all spot, moving y’all out the way, whatever.’ And it’s a lot for him to learn going into the preseason and all this week.”
On if he spoke to Lance Moore yesterday after practice:
“I did not. I talked to him this morning. So I didn’t know anything about his retirement until this morning.”
On it being game week:
“It’s nothing new. That’s why we come out here and practice every day to get ready for games. We come out here and compete just how we play in the games. It’s just a game.”
On if he’s hoping for a little piece of Josh Norman in the beginning of the game:
“Oh, no no. It’s not between me and Josh Norman. It’s the Atlanta Falcons versus the Redskins. We just got to go out here, we got to compete, and then when the young guys get in we just got to stick there with them and help them through.”
On how much he cares about playing in preseason games at this point of his career:
“It definitely gets you ready. You know, you’ve been out here, you’ve been hitting on each other, banging on each other the whole camp out here in pads. It’s just good to see a different face and go against different people and just see where your game is at.”
On how Justin Hardy and Mohamed Sanu are doing:
“Both guys are doing very great for us. We’re going to compete. It doesn’t matter, I mean, they compete against me, I compete against them. It’s not just Justin and Sanu competing. It’s all of us competing.”
On if Aldrick Robinson has stuck out to him:
“Yeah, he’s definitely a great guy, a great deep ball threat. Great speed, great hands. He’s going to be another addition to the team down the field.”
On how he helps his teammates broaden their game:
“It’s just coming out here and competing. The defense got to help us. We come out here and we’re going to get those guys the deep routes. We’re going to try to make them kick 180 every time we come off the ball, even if it’s a short route or a deep route. You know, and those guys got to help us get better and our team being first getting in and out of breaks.”
On how he feels about fixing their red zone problems from last year:
“Last year was last year. This is a whole new year. We’ll see when the season starts.”
On Matt Ryan saying that this team is capable of scoring 30 or more points a game this year:
“You know, that’s what Matt said. We’re going to take it one game at a time. We got to continue, we’re still in camp right now. We’re talking about the season and we still got to do preseason and everything. So when it comes around we’ll see.”
On Matt Ryan showing some speed outside of the pocket today:
“Oh yeah, Matt, he can move a little bit. Don’t want to give him too much credit because it might go to his head and he’ll always want to run the ball. You know how it is, offensive guys will go on defense and think we can back pedal and play DB. So you don’t want to put it into Matt’s head that he’s a running quarterback. Just keep him level-headed, please.”
On which teammates he would choose to build a 4×100 relay team:
“We got a lot of fast guys out here. Robert Alford, Tevin Coleman, Aldrick Robinson, and probably myself. I’m trying to think of who else. Yeah, that’s about right.”
On if he would be the anchor on his 4×100 team:
“Most definitely. That or third leg.”
TRAINING CAMPSCHEDULE
August
9 - Tuesday, public practice, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.10 - Wednesday -- Walk through -- closed to public
11 – Thursday vs. Washington 7 p.m. (Georgia Dome).
12 – Friday, closed practice.
13 - Saturday, players off.
14 – Sunday, public practice, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
15 – Monday, public practice, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
16 – Tuesday, public practice: 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
90-MAN ROSTER ANALYSIS -- POSITION BY POSITION
OFFENSE
Atlanta Falcons 90-man roster analysis: Quarterbacks
Atlanta Falcons 90-man roster analysis: Running backs
Atlanta Falcons 90-man roster analysis: Wide receivers
Atlanta Falcons 90-man roster analysis: Tight ends
Atlanta Falcons 90-man roster analysis: Offensive line
DEFENSE
Atlanta Falcons 90-man roster analysis: Defensive line
Atlanta Falcons 90-man roster analysis: Linebackers
Atlanta Falcons 90-man roster analysis: Defensive backs
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