What Julio Jones had to say on Monday
FLOWERY BRANCH – Here's what Falcons All-Pro wide receiver Julio Jones had to say on Monday:
On what he was working on with Mohamed Sanu after practice:
"We were just working without the ball and on hand placement. Things like that."
On how he's been feeling on the field:
"Everything has been great. I don't have any complaints or anything like that. Everything has been great. I've been moving well. I feel good."
On how much he will play in the first preseason game:
"We haven't discussed it yet. If I do play, I'll probably go out there for a couple of plays, but we haven't discussed if I'm playing or not."
On whether he has noticed an elevated play in the defense during training camp:
"I have. The defense has been doing a great job. All the guys, including the young guys, are flying around and making plays. That's only going to make us better."
On his growing relationship with Taylor Gabriel in their second year together:
"We're just buying in. Last year I wasn't, and none of the guys really were, able to be around Gabriel through OTAs and training camp because he came in so late. Then when he came in it was just like, 'Hey, teach him football and let's go play.' Now we have some down time, we can spend some time together, we can go out to eat, and we watch movies and stuff. Just seeing what his personality is really like outside of football. He's just one of the guys. He's a great friend and a great brother. He's just buying in. It's just been good this year to get to know him better off the field."
On how his off the field relationships with Gabriel, Sanu and Justin Hardy translates on the field:
"It's just about going out there and playing for each other. When you don't know someone, you're going to go out there and play, but it's one of those things where I'll do whatever it takes to go out there and do my job for this guy. It's things like that. Then if you don't really know a guy, like if a guy says that he's hurt or he's tired. This is the time you really know if a guy is tired or if he's faking it. It's things like that where you kind of just get a better feel for a guy. He's one hundred. He's going to give his best effort. If he can go, he's going to go. Things like that. It's just been really good to have him in training camp, OTAs and everything else."
On how the players have approached the situation with Jalen Collins:
"It's definitely a player-led team. I don't know what Collins did or whatever. That's his story to tell you what he did. My thing is to just stay strong and just help one another."
On how the players have responded to the situation:
"We're always going to work. We feel bad in that situation for anyone because it is a player-led team, but we're going to keep working day in and day out. There's things that he has to deal with and we just have to continue to try and get better every day."
About the Author
Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.
