Earlier this week, Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter said that wide receiver Julio Jones’ lacerated hand contributed to the fact that he finished last Sunday’s victory over the Panthers with just one catch.
It doesn’t seem that he cleared that story with Jones. The Falcons wide receiver said Thursday that the condition of his hand had nothing to do with why he only came up with one of the eight balls thrown his way. Jones credited the Panthers’ defensive scheme for his quiet afternoon.
“The Carolina game, they tried to double me and Tony (Gonzalez) throughout the whole game,” Jones said, via Jay Adams of the team’s website. “Roddy (White) and Harry (Douglas) had the one-on-one matchups and you saw Roddy made numerous big plays, basically winning us the game. Matt (Ryan) was finding those one-on-one matchups.”
Jones has been practicing fully this week and said Thursday that his hand was “fine” so it shouldn’t be available as an excuse if Jones falls short of expectations again this week. With the Redskins defense struggling to stop opposing passing attacks, it could be a good week for Jones to get back on track.