Unless you happened to be a youngster attending your first Falcons game, or an adult attending the game because you were enticed by a free ticket and the cold beer, you didn’t expect to be wowed by established stars like Matt Ryan, Roddy White or John Abraham. Most fans understood the night was more about Head Coach Mike Smith taking a peek at his sleek new sports car, former Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones.
Beginning with the first plays called from scrimmage, it was obvious that Smith had no fears about pushing the accelerator in Jones’ first live action under the Georgia Dome. On the first two plays the Falcons had the ball, Quarterback Matt Ryan tried to connect with Jones, but both passes fell incomplete.
On the second possession, Ryan did connect with Jones for a 21 yard completion. Jones lined–up off and behind the left hip of tackle Sam Baker and caught a short throw over the middle by Ryan. The pass was short enough that it could have been measured in feet more so than yards, but Jones carried the ball deep into the Dolphins secondary. He also proved to be physical enough to block effectively on the drive when the play call required.
In Jones’ final stanza, the Falcons third possession, he went into traffic and caught another pass over the middle. When he was brought down a couple seconds later, he had another 22 yards and another first down. On the very next play, Jones took a handoff on a reverse from Ryan and picked up another 12 yards. The Falcons would take a 14-0 lead in the game seven plays later. While fans may have wanted more Julio, the first round pick’s night was pretty much complete.
The Jones line of night: 2 catches for 43 yards and one carry for 12 yards. Fans did get to see a little more of Julio, though. Shortly after his final play He appeared on the high def screens above each end zone in a pre-recorded vignette called “Getting to Know Julio Jones.” Some quick facts: His nickname in high school was “Waffle House” and his favorite wide receiver growing up was Jerry Rice. From the way the rookie was able to pick up yardage after Ryan got him the ball tonight, he certainly looked like a good imitation (albeit a pre-season version) of his former idol.
When asked about being going into the heart of a defense where contact was unavoidable after the receptions, Jones seemed to enjoy taking another item off his professional football “to-do” list, “[The early contact] felt good. Coming to this level, the guys are faster and hit harder. To get that contact out of the way early, felt real good.”
After the game, Smith was very pleased but wanted to make sure everyone in should realize there is always room to grow, “Julio got indoctrinated to what the NFL’s all about. In terms of the plays that he made, they were outstanding. … He showed some skills. … We’ll watch the tape and I’m sure we’ll find some stuff we need to correct.”
For fans intent to keep up with the finer and more fashion-friendly details of the beginning of the Julio Jones era, here you go. In the first half, he wore his Falcons’ ball cap with the bill facing forwards, but when he came out to watch the second half (minus shoulder pads, but otherwise in his uniform, he had the ball cap on facing backwards “catcher style.”
Ryan, the offensive coach on the field, seemed to agree with Smith in regards to Jones’ debut, “He did a good job tonight. If he continues to progress the way that he has, he’s going to do a great job for us.”
So, Julio’s first night out was a success. He didn’t get hurt and made a couple nice plays. He didn’t show a lot in the short trip around the block, but he did display the willingness and an ability to play in traffic that made him a toy that Smith was only too happy to test drive.
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