Jones vents about red-zone play-calling

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) slips between Tampa Bay Buccaneers outside linebacker Lavonte David (54) and strong safety Chris Conte (23) during the second quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Brian Blanco)

Credit: Brian Blanco

Credit: Brian Blanco

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) slips between Tampa Bay Buccaneers outside linebacker Lavonte David (54) and strong safety Chris Conte (23) during the second quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Brian Blanco)

Falcons two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Julio Jones is confounded by the red zone offense and why he’s been excluded.

The Falcons continued to struggle in the red zone on Sunday and were defeated 23-19 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Falcons have now dropped five straight games.

“I don’t know what they are doing,” said Jones, when ask why he’s not getting any fade routes of jump balls to help out in the red zone.

Jones was targeted 17 times and he caught eight passes for 93 yards. He now has 102 catches for 1,338 yard and six touchdowns. He has not scored a touchdown in the past four games.

The Falcons were one of three in the red zone against the Bucs and had to settle for two field goals.

Jones believes he is the solution to the problem.

“Man, I don’t know,” Jones said in quiet tone when asked why they used him more inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. “I just go out there and do what I’m told to do. If we are getting those looks, they’ll call those plays, but I don’t know.

“I don’t know what we are doing down there. I don’t know what the thinking it is as far as if we’re going to throw jump balls or if we are going to run the ball with whatever look we get down there. We practice throughout the week throwing jump balls and fades and doing all of those things. But when the game comes, you never know what’s going to come up.”

“This is very tough. Like you said, we had it. We didn’t finish the game, the way we are capable of finishing the game. We came out today with a lot of energy. We practiced very well this week. We came into the game very confident that we were going to win the game. We just didn’t get the outcome that we wanted.