Falcons' Julio Jones makes no excuses for dropping 39-yard TD in fourth quarter

[fuego]

CHARLOTTE -- Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones made no excuses for dropping what would have been a 39-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 20-17 loss to the Carolina Panthers.

"I didn't take advantage of the opportunity,'' Jones told reporters following the game. "It was no excuses or anything like that. It's just a missed [opportunity].''

Jones had six catches for a season-high 118 yards in the game, but the only topic of conversation afterward was the drop. He was 5 yards ahead of the defense before he bobbled the pass from Matt Ryan. After the drop, Jones remained sprawled across the back of the end zone for a moment and appeared to cover his face in shame. Carolina safety Kurt Coleman came over and offered Jones some "spiritual" words after the drop.

 

"It's just a missed [opportunity]. That's it,'' Jones said. "I'm not worried about people. It's all about my brothers in here because I'm going out there playing for them. I'm not playing for people, 'Oh, I let people down.' I go to work and battle with these men every day. When that play came up, I felt like I could have made a better play in that situation than I did.''

Teammates expressed strong support for Jones afterward. Falcons coach Dan Quinn said his message to Jones was "we're coming back to you. We love you and know what you stand for,'' after the drop.

"One hundred out of 100 times, he's going to make plays,'' Ryan said. "He made more plays in this league than probably anybody. Sometimes it happens. I ain't worried one bit about it.''

Said wide receiver Mohamed Sanu: "He's human. People expect him to make every single play. I mean, that guy is human. He makes mistakes. That's nothing. I'd go right back to him as well. He's one of the best players I've ever been around. So it's nothing.''

Jones appreciated the support from his coach and teammates. He told Ryan he threw a good ball.

"Well, it's not a situation until you make it a situation,'' Jones said. "One play don't define a game. We've got each other's back throughout the game. It doesn't matter who's in that situation. We're going to have their back. We're not going to beat down on anyone and say, 'OK, they're not doing this well today. We're going to go somewhere else.' We have the utmost confidence in everybody on the team, just the way we practice and prepare.

"Without a doubt, of course I knew they'd have my back and would not just not throw me the ball.''

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21305527/atlanta-falcons-wide-receiver-julio-jones-makes-no-excuses-dropping-touchdown-pass-fourth-quarter

[crimsonhawk]

It's not the team that he has to worry about....it's some of these spoiled rotten, self absorbed, and overly dramatic fans that is calling him "over rated" and wanting to use him as trade bait that he needs to keep a wary eye on.

[blkbigdog35]

It happens and this man has made numerous plays.

[BCEagleATLFalcon]

Even the best of the best make mistakes. I'm not going to beat up Julio about it. (He's far from the only one making 'em out there.)

It was incredibly disheartening though. When even the "sure" thing (i.e. throwing a pretty pass to your freakishly talented All-pro wide receiver who's standing alone in the end zone) doesn't work, hard to imagine how anything else is going to.

Personally, Quinn is the one I'm starting to get fed up with.

[SkerFalcon8710]

Nobody wants to trade him, I’m just disappointed in the lack of”clutch” this team has this season..

dropped TD vs car

4/1 jet sweep vs NE

4th/1 vs bills to end the game

int to end the game vs dolphina

defensive penalties erasing 3 critical turnovers 

the list goes on 

 

 

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, BCEagleATLFalcon said:

Even the best of the best make mistakes. I'm not going to beat up Julio about it. (He's far from the only one making 'em out there.)

It was incredibly disheartening though. When even the "sure" thing (i.e. throwing a pretty pass to your freakishly talented All-pro wide receiver who's standing alone in the end zone) doesn't work, hard to imagine how anything else is going to.

Personally, Quinn is the one I'm starting to get fed up with.

I wish he had the mojo and attitude that is lacking. He is his players' best friend. Instead of all this "player's coach" ra ra cool dude stuff, right this ship! 

FWIW, it shouldn't have even come down to the Julio drop. The game should've been out of hand (in our favor) by middle of the 3rd. The defense gave the offense ample opportunity long before the Julio drop. . . 

Edited November 6, 2017 by Guest

[PHALCONABERNATHY]

Julio’s dropped pass is part of the issue but it’s the least of my worries. As far as I’m concerned Tevin Coleman got that touchdown back. The playcalling On the last drive of the game and the lack of execution is what lost that game in the end.

[ThisIsNotFantasyFootball]

51 minutes ago, BCEagleATLFalcon said:

Even the best of the best make mistakes. I'm not going to beat up Julio about it. (He's far from the only one making 'em out there.)

It was incredibly disheartening though. When even the "sure" thing (i.e. throwing a pretty pass to your freakishly talented All-pro wide receiver who's standing alone in the end zone) doesn't work, hard to imagine how anything else is going to.

Personally, Quinn is the one I'm starting to get fed up with.

Being a Falcons fan and, in general, an Atl sports fan is tough. Watching how inept this team have been for the last 5 games....

[Rise]

1 hour ago, crimsonhawk said:

It's not the team that he has to worry about....it's some of these spoiled rotten, self absorbed, and overly dramatic fans that is calling him "over rated" and wanting to use him as trade bait that he needs to keep a wary eye on.

It was not his fault...Ryan was too careful early,became desperate late, and actually open-ed and threw a lob over Julio's shoulder--that only 1998 Andrew Jones  could catch..lol..

If Ryan and Sark actually were aggressive early, and on-time and accurate with the passes (then)...that would not have been neccessary..

They stunk in The Mercedes Domee against The Dolphins and The Bills the same way...

Edited November 6, 2017 by Rise

[Rise]

9 minutes ago, Mr.Blank said:

Being a Falcons fan and, in general, an Atl sports fan is tough. Watching how inept this team have been for the last 5 games....

The Hawks took a dump against The Cavaliers 3 years ago...Everybody on that team disappeared in that series....The Bravos? hahahaha! Falcons...always slow-out-of-the gate in games..Making dumb mistakes...Dumb play calls.. They just waited unitl the very last half of the entire NFL season to disappear..

Edited November 6, 2017 by Rise

[papachaz]

28 minutes ago, Rise said:

It was not his fault...Ryan was too careful early,became desperate late, and actually open-ed and threw a lob over Julio's shoulder--that only 1998 Andrew Jones  could catch..lol..

If Ryan and Sark actually were aggressive early, and on-time and accurate with the passes (then)...that would not have been neccessary..

They stunk in The Mercedes Domee against The Dolphins and The Bills the same way...

now you have to explain who Andruw Jones was to all the youngsters here  

[mattyicefalcon]

We didnt lose because of Julios dropped T.D catch.

 

[falcndave]

1 hour ago, BCEagleATLFalcon said:

 

Personally, Quinn is the one I'm starting to get fed up with.

Me too. I do feel bad about it. I appreciate the accomplishments, but when a team continually comes up with mentally weak penalties that play such pivotal roles in games, I don't know where else to look. The mistakes are not his fault, but fixing them is. Those are the tough facts of leadership. Julio's drop should have meant nothing more than a little less icing on the cake.

[Big Ben Right]

all true, however jones sure hasn't made this team BETTER this year,has he?

[droopy1592]

5 minutes ago, shanep said:

all true, however jones sure hasn't made this team BETTER this year,has he?

Sark isn’t using Julio the same way at all. 

[octoslash]

Julio dropping that sure thing isn't the sole reason for the loss, but it's a pretty good gdamm microcosm of this team so far this season.  

[nomak]

TD...please trade Julio for a top rated oline man and 1st round pick. 

[achin2be]

The ryan INT before halftime was a back breaker. Julio dropping this pass isn't a issue with me. I was  upset but the man has made so many clutch plays you can't fault him. He is human despite what the commentary was on the NFL top 100 players.

[sdogg]

1 hour ago, falcndave said:

Me too. I do feel bad about it. I appreciate the accomplishments, but when a team continually comes up with mentally weak penalties that play such pivotal roles in games, I don't know where else to look. The mistakes are not his fault, but fixing them is. Those are the tough facts of leadership. Julio's drop should have meant nothing more than a little less icing on the cake.

This. I'm getting fed up with his inability to fix the issues. Some of these issues can be fixed in season and he just can't or won't fix it. 

[jay1k2]

37 minutes ago, achin2be said:

The ryan INT before halftime was a back breaker. Julio dropping this pass isn't a issue with me. I was  upset but the man has made so many clutch plays you can't fault him. He is human despite what the commentary was on the NFL top 100 players.

 

We can fault Ryan on an INT that was thrown most likely because of a bad route by Hooper but we can't fault Julio for dropping an easy TD? I wonder if being third most in dropped passes is Ryan's fault too? None of those dropped passes are back breakers or cost points I guess.

[Mescalito]

This season is like the falcons are in the twilight zone or something.  Lookin like the “hangover” is real.

[kiwifalcon]

I'm not enamoured about the drop or the miss in 1st qtr that Ryan missed him on.

I am optimistic that we are starting to use Julio more and more and are attacking the deep field.

Im just hoping some of these shots stick because you can see the last 2-3 weeks they have made it a priority to take those shots and get Julio the ball.

[Dirtybird56]

Obviously should’ve been caught but Ryan makes his guys play center fielder on deep throws tbh. Rainbows for days 

[FalconsIn2012]

Ummm...saying he makes the play 100 out of 100 times is odd when he just failed to do so.  99 out of 100 seems more credible 

[ATLskinjob]

That was the sort mistake that felt like the exception that proves the rule. Julio didn't lose the game for us. He just wasn't able to carry the team like he normally does. He got banged up today. 

I'm surprised that no one is talking about Matt Bryant. Anyone hear anything about him? It looked to me like we went for it on 4th down a couple of times because we knew that Bryant couldn't kick. That definitely messed us up.