Dan Quinn wants to get back to a simple philosophy: Get your best players the football.
After watching his team collapse against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons coach said he was not satisfied with how much Julio Jones was being targeted.
"No," Quinn said Monday when asked, via the team's official website. "The reason I say that is that he's such a factor. We've got to get more possessions, more time, more plays, and I think that is more the by-product of getting Julio the ball more. It's not where he needs the ball more; we need more plays so he can get the ball more."
Jones caught six of seven passes for 72 yards in Sunday's 20-17 loss. Just two of those targets, however, came after halftime, when the Falcons saw their lead dwindle, then disappear. Each of those second-half passes went for 18-yard gains, underscoring Jones playmaking ability when he's targeted.
The double-edged sword is forcing the ball to Jones when teams are double- and triple-covering him, daring Matt Ryan to throw into traffic or move on to less-talented targets.
"He's 100 percent our guy," Quinn said of Jones "But, when we're in conversations there's times when, no, you can't do that. They're going to say, 'He's not going to beat us on this play.' And so then, that might not be the time to do it. But, there's times that it is -- even if he does have two [defenders] on him. And so, on that particular one, it wasn't."
Heading to Foxborough to face a New England Patriots defense that has given up 300-yard passing games to six straight quarterbacks, and was burned by Robby Anderson and Jeremy Kerley last week, could be the recipe for a big game for Jones. The All-Pro receiver has just one contest of 100-plus yards this season. Now that Jones is healthy again, Quinn would like to see his best weapon utilized more frequently moving forward. (So would fantasy football fans.)
