Atlanta Falcons’ Julio Jones may need surgery on his toe after tonight’s big game against the New England Patriots. Jones will get it looked at after the game and figure out where he stands on the issue. The toe injury happened earlier this season and kept Jones out of the line-up for a couple of games. Despite his injury, Jones finished the season with 1,409 yards with six touchdowns in the regular season.
This week, Jones did not do anything work related and rested his foot. “It is what it is,” Jones said this week, “but a good week for anybody just relaxes the body and helps you get back to being healthy.”
“We’re going to ramp up practice,” Jones said on Wednesday, per NFL.com’s Kevin Patra. “We’re not going to make (practice time) up. Just basically going back to normal practice for me. That’s it, though. I’m not limited anymore.”
Jones will have to have a huge game against New England in order for the Falcons to pull off the upset.
New England loves to press receivers and knock them off their routes early, which could put Jones in a desperation situation if his toe is bothering him. He needs to go out there and dominate like he has all season.
New England is ranked top five in defense and Jones, as well as other players need to step up their game. The Falcons come into this game with the number one ranked offense in the league, averaging about 33 points a game, so Matt Ryan needs to get Jones involved early on.
The Falcons love to mix and match their offensive set with moving Jones in the slot position or on the outside. The inside slant is Ryan’s favorite play that he goes to when Jones is in the slot position. Jones can create separation and make plays once the ball is delivered on time.
It will be interesting to see if the injury will have an effect on Jones and how he plants his feet.
