FLOWERY BRANCH -- While the rest of the Falcons took the bye week off, wide receiver Julio Jones was at the office, receiving treatment for his injured hamstring.
The extra attention to Jones' injury allowed him to return to practice with the rest of the team on Monday. He was limited but could be available when the Falcons (4-3) face the Indianapolis Colts (0-8) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
“It felt good today,” Jones said after practice. “I was limited. We are going to play it day by day out there. But today, with the little reps that I had, I felt great.”
Falcons coach Mike Smith will release the team’s official injury report on Wednesday.
“It was good to have Julio back out there today,” Smith said. “We felt that Julio was very close to returning for the Detroit game and, obviously, another week enhanced his chances of being ready for this week.”
Jones suffered a hamstring injury against Green Bay on Oct. 9. He didn’t play in subsequent games against Carolina and Detroit.
The rookie from Alabama found it tough sitting out games.
“It was very frustrating for me, but we got two W's out of it,” Jones said. “I was very happy. I was over there on the sideline cheering those guys on.”
Jones went on a rehabilitation run on the Monday before the Detroit game, but was not able to return to practice. The Falcons are hopeful that Jones does not have a setback.
Jones has 25 catches for 358 receiving yards; he is third in the league among rookies in catches and yards receiving.
Cincinnati’s A.J. Green leads the rookies in catches and yards with 33 catches for 516 yards. Cleveland’s Greg Little is second in catches with 29. Seattle’s Doug Baldwin is second in receiving yards with 403.
Jones said things went well during his return to practice.
“It felt great getting back out there with my teammates,” Smith said. “The last couple of weeks, I’ve been sitting out there on the sidelines watching. Just getting back out there and getting to it was fun.”
Jones used his down time to study defenses.
“It helped me out tremendously, just by reading the defenses,” Jones said. “Seeing what they do, once I’m on the ball, I thinking about what route I’m running and everything else. But with me sitting on the sidelines, I was looking at the defense and seeing how they rotate. I wanted to see how they were trying to cover up as far as their scheme. That helped me out tremendously.”
Jones hopes that he can provide a boost to the passing attack.
“We just have to keep taking what the defense is giving us,” Jones said. “Michael Turner has been running the ball very well. Roddy [White], Harry [Douglas] and Tony [Gonzalez] have been playing well. Matt has been throwing some great balls as well.”
With Jones returning and All-Pro wide receiver Roddy White pronouncing himself healthy for the stretch run, there is hope that the Falcons’ passing attack could be greatly enhanced.
“I got healthy,” said White, who battled a knee injury after taking a helmet hit against Jacksonville during the exhibition season. “I can tell you that much.”
White believes he could have done more to protect his knee.
“It’s just always tough out there when they are cutting you and hitting you in the knees and stuff like that,” White said. “That kind of prolongs your injuries. That’s kind of been my problem, getting hit all of the time. I think I’m going to run out of bounds more. Get first downs and stay alive, keep the chains moving.”
The Falcons are averaging just 222.3 yards passing per game, which ranks 18th in the league.
“On the passing game, as of this point, I think we are doing all right,” White said. “There are a lot of things we can be doing better. We’ve missed a couple of plays here and there. That’s kind of been our offense all year, up and down, up and down; we need a lot more consistency.”
White, who led the league with 113 catches last season, has 39 catches for 425 yards and four touchdowns. He’s on pace to catch 89 passes this season.
With Jones possibly returning, White believes he can pick up the pace.
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