With one game left to play, Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones has already turned in the best season by a wide receiver in the team’s 50-year history.
With the Falcons (8-7) hosting the rival New Orleans Saints (6-9) Sunday at the Georgia Dome, Jones has a shot a couple of NFL records.
Don’t expect the humble one to pat himself on the back or start dabbing in the locker room.
For Jones, whom the Falcons traded six picks to acquire back in 2011, he’s just doing his job. Jones has a franchise-record 127 catches for a franchise-record 1,722 yards and eight touchdowns and has drawn within striking distance of the league’s single-season marks for catches and yards.
Jones is 17 catches away from breaking the NFL single season reception mark of 143, which was set by Indianapolis’ Marvin Harrison in 2002. He needs a whopping 243 yards to break Detroit’s Calvin Johnson’s record of 1,964 yards receiving, which was set in 2012.
Such a performance is not impossible. Jones’ had 259 yards receiving against the Packers on Dec. 8, 2014. His career-high for receptions in a game is 13, which he set against the New York Giants on Sept. 20.
Jones would rather be chatting about the playoffs.
“I don’t care for it,” Jones said about record talk. “My job is to go out there and do what my team asks of me. I know a lot of guys around here want me to get the record, but we still have to go out there and get the (win). We don’t need to go out there and force anything.”
That Jones’ teammates want him to go for the records is clear.
“Obviously, you’d love to see him break any record because he’s such an awesome guy,” quarterback Matt Ryan said. “Such a great teammate. The thing about it is that it doesn’t come up all that often because Julio is such a team-first and humble guy that you’d never hear it from him.”
The Falcons, who have been preaching pass-run balance, know they could make a run at the records if the throw the running game out the window.
“But like I’ve said before, nothing is out of the realm of possibility with him,” Ryan said. “He’s such a stud and is capable of making so many plays. If it were to happen, it would be awesome. There’s nobody more deserving. The guy has worked his tail off and has played extremely well for us.”
Roddy White, who helped Jones early in his career and has passed the torch to him as the team’s top receiver, wants him to take a shot at the records.
“We are gunning for the record(s), absolutely, if that’s what you want to know,” White said. “We are going to try to get it. What do we need? Seventeen, 18 balls? Hey, we’re going to try to get it as much as we possibly can. We are going to throw some darts, some quick game, and we are going to get 17 catches.”
Then White calmed down.
“We have to run the ball,” White said. “We have to give (Devonta) Freeman the ball. We have to be consistent. Within the means of getting the record, we are going to try to be as consistent as possible.”
The Falcons are hoping the Saints’ porous defense is not inspired to stop Jones. The Saints ranked 31st overall in yards allowed(413.4 yards per game), against the run (132.3) and the pass (281.1).
In their previous meeting, a 31-21 loss on Oct. 15, Jones has six catches for 93 yards.
It is clear White is proud of Jones and the season that he’s having under what has been an otherwise tumultuous transition to a new offense.
“It’s been really good. You know why? Because since he (arrived) and I watched him play, my goal was to make sure that he (becomes) the best player and so he could help us win as many football games as possible,” White said. “I felt like he’s been doing that since he (arrived). He’s put himself in a position as the best wide receiver in the game. That’s what my expectation was for him.
“He’s an elite player in this league and just in general. Rare talent. We are going to need him to keep playing like that because he’s special.”
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