Julio Jones on Tennessee Titans debut: 'I didn't put the best version of myself out there'

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Julio Jones said he wants to get the “bad taste” out of his mouth after a disappointing Week 1 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.  

"For me, I just want to get the bad taste out of my mouth because I didn't put the best version of myself out there on film,” Jones said Friday. “I've been doing this for a long time. I can't be anxious. It's a process. I just gotta work toward that and when it comes, it comes.

"The only person stopping me is me. And that's it."

In his Titans’ debut, Jones had just three catches on six targets for 29 yards, including a drop in the end zone. He also had an unnecessary roughness penalty that coach Mike Vrabel earlier this week said fell into “the category of doing dumb (expletive) that hurts the team.” Vrabel has also said the seven-time Pro Bowler needs to do a better job taking advantage of his opportunities. 

Jones said his focus is on turning the page to the Seattle Seahawks, who the Titans face Sunday. 

“It was rough for me, for sure, starting out last week," Jones said. "But last week is last week, obviously. I don't ever want to look back. You want to learn from the previous week and things like that, but for me, it's just coming out here each and every day, attacking each and every day and just working on my ability to get in and out of breaks. Working on my conditioning. Finishing plays. Things like that."

The former All Pro added that he feels he’ll continue to progress in his chemistry with quarterback Ryan Tannehill the more practice time they get together. Entering the season opener, much was made about the lack of time on the field together. 

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Jones missed three weeks of training camp, and his return late in the preseason came just two days before Tannehill tested positive for COVID-19 and spent nine days on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. They had their first full practices together last week. 

"Every opportunity we have, coming out here and running full speed routes," Jones said. "Just practicing at the end of the day. That's it. No excuses, things like that. I just feel like the more and more we just continue to keep working with one another, the better we'll be.

"It's all about communication with one another. ," Jones continued. "Just talking to each other, saying what we want on each play, things like that. ... Just trusting and believe in one another."

Ben Arthur covers the Tennessee Titans for The USA TODAY Network. Contact him at barthur@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @benyarthur.