Deion Jones was kind of joking the other day when he said that he’d rather go “get treatment” than talk, but sure seemed serious in suggesting there will be no rust for the Falcons middle linebacker to knock off Sunday when it’s time to go against the Vikings for real.
After not playing a single snap in the preseason, and only a couple weeks ago ramping up into full practice mode as the right foot that he broke last season strengthened, but the fourth-year pro seemed amused by the “rust” question.
A sizable smile spread across his face, and the baller said, “Nah. I feel great. I can’t wait to go.”
That’d be great for the Falcons. When Deion Jones is on the field, especially at the same time as starting safeties Keanu Neal and Ricardo Allen, Atlanta’s defense stands a much better chance.
Neal missed 15 games last season with a torn knee ligament, and Allen went out for 13 after rupturing an Achille’s tendon.
Mix in the absence of Jones for games 2-11, and there was less fun had by all.
Perhaps he’s having a blast as they’re all together again for the first time since game one last season at Philadelphia, where Jones and Neal went down.
“It’s awesome hearing certain voices again, feeling certain presences out there like Keke . . . Rico back in the middle of the field. It’s dope,” Jones said. “We’re all together, and we get to fly around and run around.”
It’ll be good to have Jones dropping again.
He had 106 tackles as a rookie in 2016, after being drafted in the second round out of LSU, another 138 in ’17, when he went to the Pro Bowl in place of injured Luke Keuchley and 53 last season in 5.5 games.
That’s just half of it. Jones has eight career interceptions and 27 passes defended. Three times, he took picks back for scores.
Who can forget his 90-yard return of a Drew Brees in the ’16 win over the Saints? Or his game-clinching end zone pick against New Orleans in ’17, not to mention another interception against his hometown team in the same year.
Even Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan will tell you how big a deal it is to have the speedy Jones, Neal and Allen back in the mix on the other side of Atlanta’s ball.
“I mean, you talk about right up the center of our defense, you talk about Keanu, Ricardo and Deion. That’s tough,” Ryan said. “It’s tough on a defense when the center of it, at the second level, gets taken away. With those guys back, we talk about communication on the offensive side of the ball, their communication on the defensive side is equally as important.
“Those guys are some of the best communicators that we have of getting other guys in the right spots, setting the defense the correct way, making sure that coverage calls are going the way they’re supposed to.”
Dan Quinn agrees that in a better world, the Joneses would’ve repped more at full speed in training camp and the preseason, yet he doesn’t sound concerned that they’re going to be at any kind of disadvantage Sunday in Minneapolis.
“ . . . with Deion [Jones], I would have liked him to have some, but we knew we were making progress where we were at. When he was back to full-speed practicing we thought that was a big win for us,” the coach said.
“Fully healthy, so we just wanted to make sure we took great care of him . . . That’s what we did in that sense. With Julio [Jones], that’s been part of the process with him.”
Deion found happiness earlier in the offseason when he signed a four-year, $57 million contract extension. That was better than watching his teammates, several of them younger than him, pressed into prematurely extended action in 2018.
“Guys not getting used to a spot, and just getting their job done,” he recalled. “But I feel like as the season when on they got comfortable and started communicating, and now we get to hit it out of the gate.”
After his chat on Wednesday, Jones readied for that treatment, which he said was not specifically for his right foot but rather, “All over (his body). Nah. Nah. I’m good.”
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