Atlanta Falcons: Julio Jones To Miss Rest of Season?
An awful season just got a whole lot more awful for the Atlanta Falcons, if Jay Glazer is right.
According to the FOX reporter, the team fears that wide receiver Julio Jones may miss the rest of the 2013 season after suffering a foot injury in Monday night’s loss to the New York Jets. Jones will receive a second opinion, but this is most disturbing news.
Jones has been one of Atlanta’s few bright spots this season, having hauled in 41 passes for 580 yards with a pair of touchdowns. He ranks 6th among all wide receivers in scoring in standard leagues.
This is a blow to the Falcons, of course, but also a massive blow to Julio’s fantasy owners. How do you replace this guy? You obviously can’t.
His teammate, Roddy White, has been a shell of himself this season as he’s been hampered by a nagging ankle injury. He has just 14 catches for 129 yards on the season, and left Monday night’s game after suffering a hamstring injury, as well.
The Falcons will be sure to hit the free agency pool in an attempt to find a body or two to fill-in, but it isn’t looking good. Harry Douglas will be the team’s obvious choice to start without Jones (and maybe White). Douglas has caught 16 passes for 219 yards this season, and 93 of those yards came in Week One.
Tony Gonzalez, who has been mercilessly double-teamed late in each of the last two games, will surely now be seeing more of the same. If you’re a Julio Jones owner and find yourself with an excess of capable fantasy running backs, perhaps trading one of them for a legit WR would be an option.
Stay tuned for more on this.