Falcons All-Pro wide receiver Julio Jones didn’t suffer any setback to his calf injury in the game against the Saints.
“I’m not injured or anything like that,” Jones said on Thursday.
Fantasy football owners were in an uproar after Jones had just one catch for 16 yards against the Saints. Jones was targeted seven times against the Saints.
Jones didn’t mind the one-catch game and he attracted two and sometimes three defenders against the Saints. With so much attention to Jones, other players had better matchups.
“That’s my job,” Jones said. “(Defensive) coordinators are going to try to take me away or they are going to put two guys on me or three guys depending on who we are playing. So, I’m doing my job. That’s all that I can do and we are winning. As long as we are winning football games and they are doing that, I’m happy with it and playing my role.”
It was his lowest catch total in 52 games and his lowest production since catching four passes for 14 yards against Denver in a 27-21 win on Sept. 17, 2012, or 54 games ago.
He caught one pass for 30 yards in a 30-28 win over Carolina on Sept. 30, 2012.
“I feel good about the way I played in the game,” Jones said. “Everybody played great. Everybody went out there and did their job.”
Jones is expecting a tough battle from the Carolina Panthers.
“They are going to come, they took a loss last week,” Jones said. “They feel like that have something to prove. They are going to come in here and try to win the game. They are going to give us their best shot. We have to be prepared for that. But it starts with us. Everything starts with us.”
Jones doesn’t have to contend with the annoying Josh Norman, who was released by the Panthers and signed by Washington after the season. Rookie James Bradberry and veteran Bene Benwikere started last week against the Vikings for the Panthers.
Jones like Bradberry, who played at Samford.
“He’s just young right now,” Jones said. “You can see the potential that he has. He’s a very long corner. Great hands. Great ball skills. We just have to be ready for everything they throw at us. Of course, their front seven is one of the best in the league.”
Jones is not expecting to get any man-to-man coverage.
“They really don’t play that much man-to-man, but we’ll see,” Jones said. “You never know until you get in the game and you’ve got to make in-game adjustments.”
The Falcons have scored on eight of their last 10 possession in the red zone.
“We just can’t try to be geniuses and switch things up,” Jones said. “We just have to keep doing what we are doing. Do what we do great and keep working on it out of different formations. Communications is the key and we have to keep doing that down there in the red zone to keep everybody on the same page.”
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