Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones finished another grueling workout off to the side with the team’s training staff Tuesday, while the rest of the team trudged through OTA No. 7.
He’s battling back from right foot surgery that knocked him out of last season after five games. Without Jones, the Falcons, who already were off to a bad start, started to spiral downhill and eventually saw their bid to reach the Super Bowl derailed.
With Jones out along with a host of others, the team posted a 4-12 record.
Jones is targeting the beginning of the season for his return to action.
“The last couple of weeks, I’ve been cutting and running a handful of routes,” Jones told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a one-on-one interview Monday. “Nothing major, but you’ve got to start somewhere. We have to get back out there and get going, but I feel pretty good.”
Jones, who had surgery in mid-October, still has several restrictions. While shooting a commercial for a nutritional drink company, he wasn’t allowed to jump to catch soft football tosses.
But he remains optimistic that he’ll recover fully from the surgery.
“I feel very confident in everything that I’m going through and with what I’m doing as far as what (trainer) Marty (Lauzon) has going for me,” Jones said. “They are not going to put me in (a bad) situation or rush me back or do anything that’s going to hurt me.”
While Jones has not been able to test his explosiveness on the foot, he’s still found time to catch passes from quarterback Matt Ryan.
“Obviously, during the OTA portion he’s not allowed to be on the field with us, but there have been different times where he’s been out working on his hands and stuff like that,” Ryan said. “I think he looks good.”
Jones arrives early to get treatment from the training staff, goes through his workout and attends all of the wide receiver meetings.
“Julio has been in this building pretty much every day this offseason,” Ryan said. “While he hasn’t been able to be out on the practice field yet, we’ve communicated a lot.”
Jones also has watched film with Ryan.
“When we do get the opportunity to be out on the field, we want to hit the ground running,” Ryan said. “I certainly think that when he gets back, whenever that is, as we get closer to training camp, we’re going to get more time to (bond) and make sure that we’re on the same page.”
Jones was turning in a super season before the injury. He had 41 catches for 580 yards and two touchdowns through five games. He was on pace for 131 catches and 1,856 yards.
Jones’ foot problem first surfaced at the NFL scouting combine in 2011. He had foot surgery to implant a screw to fix a stress fracture in his foot that March and was ready for the season opener. He started 13 games as a rookie while battling through a couple of hamstring injuries.
Last season, after the game against the New York Jets on Oct. 7, Jones was seen going to the X-ray room at the Georgia Dome. Two days later, after Jones got a second opinion, the Falcons announced that he was out for the season.
“I was having a good season, but we had a lot of injuries,” Jones said. “A lot of guys got hurt.”
Jones doesn’t appear to be frustrated by the long rehabilitation process.
“Everything is going good,” Jones said. “Like they said, I am ahead of schedule, but we are still taking it day-by-day. Whatever they’ve got planned for me, I’m doing it.”
Jones thought that it was important to remain attached to the team during the rehab process.
“I’ve been getting treatment for a while and also when those guys are out there doing OTAs, since the coaches don’t want me running routes, I just go off to the side and do my own thing,” Jones said.
Jones, who hadn’t conducted any interviews since the injury because of the team’s policy of not allowing injured players to speak to the media, acknowledges that it was tough watching last season go up in flames.
“Matt just didn’t have his weapons out there,” Jones said. “That’s like you coming to work without your weapons. It’s going to be hard for you to work if you don’t have your materials to work with.”
Jones had the fifth-year option on his rookie contract picked up this offseason and expects to sign a long-term contract before his deal expires. He’s doesn’t expect to reach free agency and is not angling for that.
“They want me here,” Jones said. “I want to be here for the remainder of my career.”
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