Julio Jones is well on his way to having three consecutive seasons with at least 1,500 receiving yards. He's unlikely to match last year's insane total of 1,871 (a career high), but at his current pace (a league-leading 1,140 yards), he'll compile 1,658.
For his entire career, coaches have dedicated a significant portion of their gameplan to stopping, or at least slowing, Jones. Just about all of them have failed.
This weekend, his Falcons will battle with the Kansas City Chiefs in a matchup of two potential playoff teams. Head coach Andy Reid will likely utilize All-Pro cornerback Marcus Peters to try and keep Julio in check, but he has a much more effective strategy in mind.
Here's Reid's response when asked how he plans to cover Julio Jones (clearly meant in jest). From Andrew Hirsh of AtlantaFalcons.com:
“You hope he misses the bus. He’s a good player. He’s going to make some plays. He’s a great player, but you have to try to minimize him.”
Considering that Jones doesn't have a track record of missing buses to games in the past, this tactic is a long-shot for Reid. One can hope, I suppose.
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