A remarkable thing about Julio Jones is that he can be the best player on the field when not feeling his best. He’s turbo-charged on sore toes, brilliant on balky ankles and flying downfield with a hurt hip.
He eased into training camp last year following foot surgery, barely played in the exhibition games and dealt with nagging injuries throughout the season. Jones still turned in another Pro Bowl season. That’s not the first time that’s happened. What could Jones do if he were healthy from the start?
Apparently, we’re about to find out.
Jones said Thursday that this is healthiest he’s ever felt during training camp.
“Competing-wise, it’s just a different level,” Jones said.
Chances are Jones won’t stay that way. Few football players do. Dealing with various nagging injuries to his lower body has been a constant during Jones’ NFL career. He’s explained that those nicks and knacks inevitable because he’s an explosive athlete full of “fast-twitch” muscle.
A healthy Julio in July and August foreshadows good things for the season. The Falcons have a lot to work on after their offensive fade in 2018. Jones is perhaps the most valuable non-quarterback in the NFL and seeing him running freely during camp is important for their Super Bowl hopes.
“There is no weaknesses (now) as far as in my head, mental blocks,” Jones said. “I can do anything and everything. There is nothing holding me back.”
That’s true with regard to his health. Coaching might be another matter.
The heat is on second-year offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. In his first season as a pro coordinator, he inherited every key player from a historically good offense that led the league in scoring. The Falcons were inconsistent on offense in 2018 and finished No. 15 in points.
There are several factors in the decline, and one of them, dropped passes, has nothing to do with Sarkisian. But never quite figuring out how best to use Jones probably is near the top of the list.
“We will feature him and utilize him in some different ways,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “Not going to unveil it to you now.”
Sarkisian has said that, because Jones didn’t practice or play much last summer, he “didn’t really know” him as a player going into the season. That seems dubious. If Sarkisian needed some clues, he could fire up video from 2016 to see how Kyle Shanahan built a balanced and unstoppable offense around Jones’ special talents.
But, fine, let’s assume there’s something to what Sarkisian said. It’s a year later and Jones is healthy and practicing in camp, so we can throw out that excuse.
“Everybody knows (Jones) puts the work in, but now to have that where he doesn’t have to deal with any injury, rehab, injury histories, that’s a big thing,” Quinn said. “That allows the timing to really go at full speed.”
That’s invaluable for the Falcons (another reason they did well to make Jones happy about his contract so he would report on time). Now the Falcons need Jones to have good injury luck, though ailments aren’t usually enough to keep him from making winning plays. Everyone plays hurt in the NFL, but Jones may do it better than anyone.
Remember when a sprained right toe forced Jones to leave the 2016 divisional playoff game against the Seahawks? Jones barely practiced in the week before the NFC Championship game and still thrashed the Packers in the Georgia Dome.
Two weeks later Jones was the most productive Falcons receiver in the Super Bowl. Jones was still hurting -- the Patriots over-played Jones to one side because they noticed he was favoring his right foot -- yet he made the play that should have won the Falcons their first NFL championship.
Jones had March 2017 surgery to remove a bunion on the foot. A sore hip flexor slowed Jones last October, but it was hard to tell. Ankle ailments bugged Jones in November, and he kept producing. Jones ended up playing all 16 games in 2017 and was No. 2 in NFL receiving yards.
There always seems to be a headline about a Jones injury. Yet he’s missed only three games since foot surgery wiped out most of his 2013 season.
“If I feel like I can run and do things, I’m good enough to play,” Jones said. “I can go out there and play games and give good effort.”
Jones is feeling so good now that he’s participating fully in training-camp practices. He came off the field Thursday with a pep in his step.
“I can do everything,” he said. “I’m truly 100 percent.”
We’ve never seen that before in July and August. I’m looking forward to seeing what it means for the fall.
