FOXBORO, Mass. — Julio Jones is having a down season by his usual lofty standards. He ranks 18th in the NFL in receiving yards, tied for 33rd in catches and tied for 42nd in targets, and he’s yet to catch a touchdown pass through five games.
The New England Patriots, however, aren’t putting any stock in those less-stellar-stats.
“That doesn’t matter,” safety Patrick Chung said Thursday as the Patriots prepared for their Sunday night showdown with Jones and the Atlanta Falcons at Gillette Stadium. “That dude’s a beast.”
Jones, now in his seventh season with the Falcons, earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2015 and 2016 and hasn’t ranked lower than third in the NFL in receiving yards in each of the last three seasons. The Patriots actually did a commendable job defending him when these teams last met in Super Bowl LI, and he still finished with 87 yards on four catches — three of which were of the highlight-reel variety.
“He’s an amazing player,” cornerback Johnson Bademosi said. “We all know what he’s capable of. So as a defense, we have to be prepared.”
What makes Jones, who is listed at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, so dangerous? Where do we start?
“He’s fast,” Bademosi said. “He’s physical. He can jump. He can run. He’s smart. He’s everything you want in a wide receiver.”
Jones’ unique blend of size and speed makes him a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses.
“The tough thing is that he’s big and fast,” safety Devin McCourty said. “Usually, with bigger receivers, guys that are smaller can out-quick him. You’re a little bit faster. You really don’t do that against him. So it’s really just competing.”
Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler covered Jones on some snaps during Super Bowl LI, but either Logan Ryan or Eric Rowe was matched up against him for most of the game. New England likely will be without both of those players Sunday, as Ryan now is with the Tennessee Titans and Rowe remains sidelined with a groin injury.
Stephon Gilmore, a bigger corner at 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, would be a strong candidate to take on Jones, but his chances of playing don’t look good, either, after he sat out practice Wednesday and Thursday with a concussion that kept him out of last Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.
There’s a good chance the Patriots will enter this game with Butler, Jonathan Jones and Bademosi as their only available cornerbacks, leaving them shorthanded in the secondary against a dangerous — albeit underperforming — Falcons offense.
And though Jones is the focal point of that offense, Atlanta also boasts solid second and third receivers in Mohamed Sanu and Taylor Gabriel, and two dual-threat running backs in Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, not to mention Matt Ryan, the reigning NFL MVP, under center.
“I think the hardest thing is to have so many other guys that are good players that you’ve got to know where Julio Jones is, but you can’t just ignore the rest of those guys on the field,” McCourty said. “Matt Ryan does a good job of spreading the ball around. It’s not just, ‘Get the ball to Julio Jones.’ It’s, ‘Throw to the best matchup.’ It’s, ‘Where’s the coverage at? Let’s go opposite.’
“That offense as a whole puts a ton of stress on you.”
Thumbnail photo via Dale Zanine/USA TODAY Sports Images
