Falcons rookie wide receiver Julio Jones is ready to get going with his new teammates.
“I don’t come in like I know everything,” he said. “I’m willing to learn. I’m ready to work.”
With the NFL lockout preventing him from communicating with coaches, Jones has met with quarterbacks Matt Ryan and John Parker Wilson to learn the offense. Wilson is a useful tutor; he and Jones played together at Alabama.
“It’s kind of the same offense there that we had at Alabama,” Jones said. “Some of the plays are the same, but it’s just different terminology.”
Jones plans to attend player-led seven-on-seven drills next week. After having surgery in March to repair a broken foot, Jones said he’s 100 percent, but has not been cleared by doctors.
Jones has yet to settle in Atlanta. He still has a place in Tuscaloosa and has some of his belongings at his home in Foley, Ala., where he grew up. He has stayed in hotels when he has been in Atlanta.
Said Jones, “I’m pretty much just everywhere.”
After three years under NCAA rules, he said he still “bugs out” when people offer to buy meals for him. That said, he would rather pay for things himself.
“Some people pay for your stuff, but they’re looking for something in return,” he said.
Jones treated himself to a white-and-blue Dodge Challenger (a blue air freshener hangs from the rearview mirror) with money he got from a trading-card deal. His next big purchase will be a house for his mother, he said. That may be it.
“I’m tight [with money],” he said. “Real tight.”
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