NASHVILLE – In order to get his body back to health, Julio Jones made sure his mind was right. Consider it mission accomplished on both fronts.
Friday, the Tennessee Titans wide receiver saw to it that there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind about his status for Monday’s game against the Buffalo Bills at Nissan Stadium.
“It’s just a mental thing,” Jones said. “… But I feel great. I did everything I needed to do, and I’m ready to go.”
The seven-time Pro Bowler missed the last two contests with a hamstring injury sustained in the Week 3 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. He watched the fourth quarter of that one from the sidelines and then did not practice again until this week.
Jones once again is listed on the injury report but was a full participant in workouts Thursday and Friday.
“Just keeping a clear head. Staying positive,” he said. “That’s it, and everything else takes care of itself. I’m out here practicing. I’m out here flying around. And I feel good.”
Jones has 12 receptions for 204 yards in his first season with the Titans (3-2), who acquired him in June via a trade with Atlanta. The bulk of those numbers came in Week 2 at Seattle when he caught six passes for 128 yards. Twenty times in the first five weeks a player has had more than 125 receiving yards in a game, and Jones is one of three who finished such a performance with six or fewer receptions.
Despite his recent absences, he leads Tennessee in receiving yards, and his 17.0 yards-per-reception average is best among all Titans with more than three catches.
A.J. Brown, who missed one game and most of another with a hamstring injury of his own, has 10 receptions for 130 yards and one touchdown.
Together, they have not produced as expected, but with 12 games remaining in the regular season, there is time for them to establish themselves as one of the NFL’s top tandems. Brown, who returned last Sunday from a hamstring injury of his own, also has been a full participant in this week’s practices.
Jones failed to make any predictions for what the two might accomplish this week but expressed a certain assurance that their collective best is still to come.
“Just being out there with the team, being out there with the guys, putting the work in at practice and then just being able to go into a game and just let the practice and the process show – the timing, things like that – can pay off,” Jones said.
“I’m not going to stir it up or anything like that,” he added. “I’m very confident in myself and my teammates.”
Brown admitted following Sunday’s victory over the Jaguars that he was on a “pitch count,” a limited number of snaps designed to ensure that he did not overdo it and potentially reinjure himself.
Jones believes he is ready for whatever is asked of him against Buffalo, which has the NFL’s second-ranked pass defense and trails only Dallas in interceptions with nine.
“Once I suit up, I’m ready to go,” he said. “I just go out there, and if I feel like I can play I’m playing. Things happen. It’s football. I’ve been doing it for a long time.
“I’m going to be ready to go.”
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