FLOWERY BRANCH—Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones and safety William Moore are questionable to play against the Steelers on Sunday after they left Monday's game against the Packers with injuries.
Jones suffered a right hip injury late in the 43-37 Falcons defeat and was not able to finish. Moore suffered a foot injury in the first quarter and did not return.
Falcons coach Mike Smith said both players were “very sore” on Tuesday.
“We are hoping that both of these guys will be ready to go at the end of the week,” Smith said. “How much practice time they are going to get, we don’t know at this point and time. But is our intention to do everything in our power to have these guys ready to go against Pittsburgh.”
Moore was playing in his second game since returning from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for eight weeks.
Jones had 11 catches for a career-high 259 yards with a touchdown against the Packers. After leaving the game with the hip injury, Jones paced the sideline in frustration and at one point grabbed his helmet before taking a seat on the bench.
Jones had six catches for 100 yards and a touchdown after halftime as the Falcons tried to rally from a 31-7 deficit. Jones was targeted 17 times by quarterback Matt Ryan and caught 11 of Ryan’s 24 completions.
Jones set career highs for receiving yards in consecutive weeks. He had 10 catches for 189 yards and a touchdown in the 29-18 victory over Arizona on Nov. 30.
“When they are in sync, it really is difficult to slow those guys down,” Smith said of Jones and Ryan. “Julio is an outstanding wide receiver. In my mind, he’s best in the NFL. I think over last two weeks you are not going to find anybody who put together games like that that back-to-back. For a receiver to have a big game the quarterback has got to be able to distribute the ball and Matt has done a very good job. They have been in sync. They are seeing the coverages out of the same spectrum.”
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