Titans’ Julio Jones explains reason behind injury-shortened 2020 season
3 min readWhile the hype for Julio Jones joining the Tennessee Titans has been through the roof, there are some concerns that have been expressed about the 32-year-old wide receiver as he prepares to embark on his first season in Nashville.
Those concerns stem from not only his age, but his history of injuries. Jones has played through several during his career, and he’s also coming off an injury-shortened campaign in 2020 that saw him play in just nine games.
Jones helped ease the fear about his physical health during his first presser with the Titans.
The veteran explained that he tried to come back too quickly from his hamstring ailment last season, leading to the extended injury issue.
He is also using the doubts about his future viability as motivation for the upcoming campaign.
Via D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
“For me, at the end of the day I believe in me. I know what I have left in the tank. We’re talking about age, it’s 32. I’m young. In football you can say it’s old, but you either do it or you don’t. This game don’t change for me. I’m still fast. I’m still strong. To the games last year, I had an issue (grade 2 quad hamstring strain) where I didn’t take enough time to heal up properly, but you know, that was just my decision, going out there and just playing. No excuses, things like that. I’ll be ready to go. For those who are questioning my health and things like that, just stayed tuned.”
The concerns about Jones’ injury history are a bit overblown.
After all, Jones has played in 13 games or more in eight of his 10 seasons, including four seasons with 16 games played, and a grand total of seven campaigns with 14 or more games played.
Not to mention, it’s rare for any NFL player to not play through injury over the course of any given season. Jones’ situation is just more pronounced because he hasn’t practiced all that much over the years.
What’s even more overblown is the idea that Jones might be on the downside of his career.
Despite playing through injury last season, Jones was still playing at a high level when on the field, averaging 85.7 receiving yards per contest, the seventh-best mark in the NFL.
It’s also important to note that Jones posted that average even with teammate Calvin Ridley coming into his own and emerging as a top wide receiver in the NFL.
Whatever the case may be, Jones has every right in the world to have a chip on his shoulder ahead of 2021, and this extra motivation is bad news for Tennessee’s opponents.
