Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones is not interested in getting into a debate with Carolina cornerback Josh Norman.
“I do not think about a matchup going into a football game,” Jones said on Thursday. “I’ve just got to go out there and play my style of football. Whether you know it or not, he doesn’t say much, you know? He might say stuff to other guys, but he really doesn’t say anything to me when I’m out there.”
Norman was involved in a highly-publicized confrontation with New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. last Sunday. Norman was fined more than $26,000 and Beckham was suspended for one game after things out of control.
Jones and Falcons wide receiver Roddy White question’s Norman’s toughness and noted that he receives help from the safety in Carolina’s scheme. Norman fired back, calling White the Falcons’ “fifth receiver.”
Jones doesn’t plan to get distracted.
“We’ve just got to go out there and play our style of ball, which is not turn the ball over,” Jones said. “We’ve got to play fast and physical. We’ve got to protect the football.”
Both Jones and Norman were selected to the Pro Bowl on Tuesday. Jones leads the league in receptions with 118. He has 1,544 yards and seven touchdowns.
“I’m always confident,” Jones said. “That’s part of the game. You have to be confident. You can’t go in thinking you’re beat before you get to the game because then you’re going to get beat.
“It’s all about that mentality that you take into the game and approach every day with. I feel like this team — we’ve had two great weeks of practice and yesterday was good as well. We’ve just got to keep that rolling and keep it going into Sunday.”
Jones is 26 catches away from breaking the single-season mark of 143, which was set by Indianapolis’ Marvin Harrison in 2002.
“It’s not important to me now,” Jones said. “My ultimate goal is to win games, whatever it takes to do that.”
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