Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones has been ruled out for his team's Week 14 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris delivered the news on Friday morning. Jones did not practice on Thursday, so the announcement does not come as a total surprise.
The Chargers bout will mark the fourth game the 31-year-old has missed this season with a lingering hamstring injury. He last played in the Falcons' Week 13 loss to the New Orleans Saints, in which he recorded six catches for 94 yards.
With Atlanta out of playoff contention at 4-8, it's worth speculation if the organization will shut down the veteran wideout for the rest of the season. On Friday, Morris said the team has not made a decision on his status for the final three games, via The Athletic's Tori McElhaney.
Raheem Morris added that they haven't come to a decision about shutting Julio down for the rest of the season. https://t.co/AFon6dRXWP
— Tori McElhaney (@tori_mcelhaney) December 11, 2020
The Falcons have played better since Morris took over as interim head coach following the firing of Dan Quinn in October. They are 4-3 under Morris after dropping their first five games.
The hamstring issue has limited Jones to nine games on the season—his 10th in Atlanta. Jones, who currently has 51 receptions for 771 yards and three touchdowns, hasn't failed to reach 1,000 receiving yards in a season since 2013.
For his career, the seven-time Pro-Bowler is the Falcons franchise leader in catches (848) and receiving yards (12,896).
Without Jones, Atlanta will rely more heavily on the team's leading receiver this season, Calvin Ridley (59 receptions, 905 yards, seven TDs), as well as wideout Russell Gage and tight end Hayden Hurst.
Morris said that running back Todd Gurley will see a bigger role in the gameplan this Sunday, after getting just eight carries last week.
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