ATLANTA — Falcons two-time All-Pro wide receiver Julio Jones and two-time Pro Bowl running back Devonta Freeman didn’t play one snap in the exhibition season.
But both said they will be ready for action when the Falcons face the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles to open the season Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field.
“(Falcons coach Dan Quinn) has the utmost respect for us and confidence that we’ll be ready to go,” Jones said. “He put it in our corner to come out here at practice and go full speed, make it like game time. Once you go out there and practice like that, the game will be easy for you.”
Quinn has raved about how well Jones has looked in the closed practices.
“Just because of the offseason that he had and the explosiveness that he was able to generate through his training and through his practices," Quinn said. “He’s in a good spot. We’re excited to let it rip with him.”
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The Falcons elected to rest Jones because of his history with soft tissue injuries, and Freeman because he’s coming back from a late-season knee injury. Also, Freeman suffered a concussion in the exhibition season in 2017.
Jones said he enters the season feeling healthy for the first time since 2015.
“We are not going to go out here and make up anything,” Jones said. “We were ready to play in these games, these (exhibition) season games we were ready to play, but we didn’t feel like we needed to play. Preparation is out here on this field each and every day for us.”
Freeman was fine with skipping the exhibition games.
“I just keep preparing every single day,” Freeman said. “All of that is just like clutter. The best (thing) that I can do is eliminate that and focus on me getting better. Things like the game plan, my sleep and my body. That’s where all of my energy is at right now.”
Jones and Freeman accounted for 2,641 of 5,993 yards (44 percent) of the team’s total offensive output in 2017.
“I’m excited,” Freeman said. “I’m just taking it all in right now. ... I’m just thankful that I get to play football. I get to look back and a lot of people didn’t make it. You just have to be thankful for this opportunity.”
Freeman was held in check in the Falcons' 15-10 playoff loss to the Eagles, but he was playing on the injured knee. He rushed 10 times for 7 yards and caught five passes for 26 yards.
“They are physical,” Freeman said. “They are just good all over the board. Everything you want in a defense, Philadelphia, they’ve got it.”
Jones caught nine passes for 101 yards, but slipped on the offense’s final play of the game on a fourth-and-goal from the 2 and couldn’t pull down what would have been an acrobatic game-winning catch.
“They are all right,” Jones said about the Eagles’ secondary. “They can cover well. We played them last year and they were victorious. We don’t speak on last year or things like that. From what we saw in the preseason they were rotating some guys in and out, just to see who was going to play for them.”
Jones doesn’t believe the Eagles will change up their defensive scheme much.
“Three-deep, four-under or man-to-man at times,” Jones said. “They’ll gave you some zero here and there. It will be interesting to see how they play us this year especially since we have (rookie wide receiver) Calvin (Ridley) on the team this year. He is another deep ball threat. He can take a small route down the field, too.”
Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian believes that Jones and Freeman are ready for the regular season.
“Obviously, we played the (exhibition season), a few drives here and there, without Julio and without Devonta, so to have the whole unit go take the field for a whole game, we are all really excited to see all of the hard work that we’ve put in our area of emphasis come to life,” Sarkisian said.
There is no concern that the timing of the offense could be off.
“The preparation has been very good,” Sarkisian said. “Obviously, our focus has been on owning our plan. Going into the details of our plan and then going out and executing those things at a high level.”
This article was written by D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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