The Atlanta Falcons are undefeated and Julio Jones wants it to stay that way. The team is preparing to enter NFC South play with a rivalry matchup against the New Orleans Saints and they may or may not be without their best player. Over the past two weeks, Jones has been dealing with a hamstring injury and while he has been on the field he has clearly been hampered by the issue. Playing on a short week is not ideal for Jones, but he is expecting to play in Week 6.
Jones told ESPN's Josina Anderson that he will "most definitely" be playing on Thursday against the Saints because right now the Falcons have a lot of good momentum and he does not want to break it. Jones noted that he will not play if it puts him in danger of getting a more serious injury, but he still expected to get on the field and do his job. Jones participated in the walk-through portion of practice on Tuesday, but then exited after that.
"If I can go, I'm going to go,'' Jones said, via ESPN.com. "I'm going to have to be really down bad not to go out there and play. If I feel like I'm putting myself in danger, as far as not being able to go out there and make defenders miss, then I won't go. If I feel like I can do that and help my team by going out there and drawing coverage and doing my job, I'm going to go.''
Head coach Dan Quinn echoed the belief that Jones would play in Week 6, but quarterback Matt Ryan might be wise to rely on other targets. Jones will draw the coverage from the defense leaving Roddy White and Leonard Hankerson to make plays against the Saints. White has stressed that he wants more playing time and this might be the week that he really gets it. Jones knows that even his presence on the field will help Atlanta even if he is not making catches.
"The defense, they still have to respect me,'' Jones said.. "They still have to put two guys on me. And I think I did my job.''
The Falcons are hopeful to get more involvement from recently injured players. Both Jacob Tamme and Tevin Coleman returned to action in Week 6, and got time on the field as the Falcons offense was struggling. Both players are likely to see more playing time against the Saints which will give Ryan more to work with should Jones be hampered in any way.