Authentic Bradley Roby Jersey Wide receiver Julio Jones wants the Atlanta Falcons to keep spreading the ball around, and there¡¯s a good reason behind his line of thinking.
Jones is going to have an impact on any game, whether it means 200-plus receiving yards, drawing a couple pass-interference penalties or even opening up running lanes by blocking down the field. But Jones sees getting his less-experienced teammates more involved as imperative at this juncture of the season, with the 7-4, NFC South-leading Falcons on track for the playoffs.
“Nah, I don¡¯t care about touches. I¡¯m great,¡± Jones said coming off a four-catch, 35-yard game in a 38-19 win over Arizona. ¡°It¡¯s great because other guys are stepping up and making it happen. You can¡¯t expect those guys to do it — let¡¯s say you get to the playoffs, playoff run, whatever — you can¡¯t expect those guys, ‘Oh, I want these guys to step up now and make these plays.¡¯ That¡¯s why you have to get them involved now throughout the year and let them build their confidence up as well to say, ‘We¡¯re going to make these plays. We can all make these plays.¡¯”
At first he received only support. He stayed in Virginia and skipped work for 54 days, and during that time the other members of the LOB sent him daily text messages, and a few Seahawks practiced in his jersey.
That took only two weeks. The Seahawks’ defense was a mess and it lost the first two games, so Chancellor largely caved on his negotiations and booked a sudden flight to Seattle to rejoin a team in disarray. He played under the exact same contract he had been given before, paying him about $5 million in the 2015 season instead of the reported $9 million he wanted. He was rusty and resentful — and worried about what his teammates thought of him. He stopped giving pregame speeches. The defense seemed disjointed. The Seahawks struggled to a 2-4 start and eventually an early playoff loss.
“All year, that connection of the team just wasn’t there,” Chancellor says. “This team revolves around a core of 10 or 11 guys, and when there’s division at the core, the whole team goes bad. I think guys just felt abandoned, like I hadn’t been there for them, and they had to suffer and lose games because of it.”