Trouble keeping up
Jones, Atlanta offense not matching amazing stats of recent seasons
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Julio Jones is still making some dynamic plays for the Atlanta Falcons.
There was his touchdown catch two weeks ago at New England, where he went up over Malcolm Butler in the corner of the end zone and snatched the ball away, and there was a 53-yard reception last week against the New York Jets. On that play, Jones accelerated down the middle of the field, beat two defenders and hauled in the pass from Matt Ryan.
Even so, there’s no doubt the veteran wide receiver’s numbers are down rather significantly in several key areas — most notably, touchdowns and yards per game — which has sparked a running stream of questions about his role in the Atlanta offense. Jones, though, doesn’t sound the least bit concerned.
“I don’t need validation from anybody or numbers to tell me throughout the year what type of player I am,” the two-time All-Pro said this past week.
Jones is not having a poor year by any stretch. Projected over a full season, he would finish with 85 receptions for 1,234 yards. But he has only one touchdown— that catch in the closing minutes of an ugly 23-7 loss to the Patriots in a Super Bowl LI rematch — and his average of 77.1 yards per game would be his lowest since 2012 after four straight seasons of producing an average of more than 100 yards each game.
But it’s a little odd to look at the NFL’s receiving stats and see Jones only fifth in yards per game — he led the league in that category the past two seasons — and way down in 20th with just 37 receptions. Last season, Jones had 83 for 1,409 yards and six touchdowns despite missing two games with an injury.
In 2015, playing all 16 games, he turned in one of the greatest receiving seasons in NFL history: 136 catches, 1,871 yards and eight touchdowns.
With the Falcons (4-3) heading into a crucial NFC South game against the Carolina Panthers (5-3) today, Atlanta coach Dan Quinn is continually stressing to the offense
that it needs to find ways to get Jones more involved.
“We think that all the time,” Quinn said. “He’s always a factor to me.”
Specifically, Quinn wants his best receiver to have more of an impact on third down.
“He leads our team in explosive plays by quite a bit,” the coach said. “He hasn’t had as many opportunities on third down, so for sure that’s a part of our game that we know we can improve upon.”
Jones is not one of those diva receivers who constantly demands the ball. He has said over and over again, including this past week, that the only stat of concern to him is the team’s record.
“If we dial the play up, I’m going to go out there and try to make the best of it,” Jones said. “I’m very explosive down the field, but people can’t see what we see on the field. A lot of people try to take me away early on. You can’t see it. There might be one guy, but the safety’s cheating over and things like that.”
Certainly, there’s no fretting about making sure he winds up with roughly the same numbers as other years.
“I don’t look in the past,” Jones said. “I’m a day-to-day guy. I’m in that game. I do my best in that game. After it’s over and done with, it’s behind me.”
The questions about Atlanta’s offense extend beyond Jones, though. The Falcons rank in the middle of the league with their scoring average of 21.6 points per game, a big drop from their league-leading 33.8 last season.
They are averaging 6.18 yards per play, second in the NFL, and their 4.79 yards per rush rank fourth in the league. The numbers suggest the Falcons are having more success moving the ball downfield than into the end zone.
But Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly isn’t taking Atlanta lightly.
“They are good everywhere on offense …,” Kuechly said. “They’re scary, and they can hang 40 on you if you blink.”