Wide receiver Julio Jones hasn’t been a member of the Titans for a long time, but he’s made a strong early impression.
Jones joined the team via a trade with the Falcons late in the offseason and head coach Mike Vrabel shared a message he had for Jones when he arrived in Tennessee. Vrabel said that he put Jones into a group of players held more accountable because they are expected to be leaders of the team.
Vrabel said that Jones embraced that approach and that he’s made a positive impact on the team since joining the roster.
“One thing I told him is, I’m going to hold the best players the most accountable, and hopefully in turn they can do that to the rest of the team,” Vrabel said, via the team’s website. “I’ve always said that is something that we believe in. That’s how I was coached, and that’s what I know. I just wanted to make sure that [Julio] understood that, which he did. It’s something he was very comfortable with. . . . Everything that he has done since he has been a member of our team has been positive.”
The Titans’ move for Jones sets them up to have another potent offense during the 2021 season. They’ll likely need to balance that with improved defensive play to make a deeper run in the postseason than they managed last year, but there should be some entertaining shootouts if they can’t manage to make that leap on the other side of the ball.