Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones went through the second practice of the week Friday, but afterward acknowledged that he was not 100 percent recovered from the hamstring injury that caused him to miss the Bears game Sunday.
“It’s a soft tissue issue, like I said,” Jones said. “I feel good. I’ve been running well at practice and things like that. I don’t know. I don’t know. …. I’m not 100% with anything, but I feel good.”
Jones has 11 catches for 181 yards on the season. He opened the season with a nine-catch and 157-yard performance against Seattle.
He clearly was slowed in the second game, against Dallas, when he had two catches for 24 yards and dropped a potential game-winning touchdown pass from wide receiver Russell Gage on a gadget play.
“Just building up the confidence and getting the strength and everything back,” Jones said about the hamstring.
Jones sounded frustrated by the injury.
“You can’t be who you are, the ability to, especially if you’re like a faster guy, being able to get in out of your cuts quick, all those things play a part in it,” Jones said. “The uncertainty, you don’t know what’s going to make it go or if you’re going to have strength or not within a play or what situation is going to make it hurt or anything like that.”
Jones had played in 52 consecutive regular-season games before missing the Bears' game. He was last out in Game 14 in the 2016 season.
“When you play the game, especially this game, you want to go out there and play,” Jones said. “You don’t want to think. You just want to go out there have fun and play with your buddies.
"When you have hamstrings and soft-tissue issues and things like that, it’s just one of those things that’s nagging. They can be lengthy if you don’t care of yourself and do what you need to do.”
