Jones gets 250 receiving yards for third time

(TNS) — Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones entered Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers needing eight receptions and 107 receiving yards to have more receptions and more receiving yards than any other player in the NFL has had in his first 90 games.

Jones reached the necessary totals, and his game was historic for more than those two records.

In the Falcons’ 34-20 victory, Jones caught 12 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns. He also gained 15 yards on his first rushing attempt of the season.

“We tried rolling the coverage to him. We tried pressing him,” Tampa Bay coach Dirk Koetter said. “We didn’t have an answer for him.”

Jones recorded the 29th game in NFL history in which a player has had at least 250 receiving yards. It was the third time he’d reached that milestone. No other player has done it more than once. The 26 other 250-yard games belong to 26 different receivers.

The former Foley High School star had 259 receiving yards against the Green Bay Packers on Dec. 8, 2014, and 300 receiving yards against the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 2, 2016.

Jones’ big game allowed him to surpass 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth consecutive season and the fifth time in his career. Jones has 66 catches for 1,039 yards in 2017.

“You never know whose game it’s going to be,” Jones said. “That’s why I’m not a stats guy. I can’t get down and not go out there and play for my brothers. That’s being selfish and then you’re not allowing your brothers to go out there and play their best ball. If those other guys on the field, the other 10 guys on the field with me, and I was doing my thing today and they decided, ‘OK, I’m not going to do something today; I’m not getting the ball; I’m not doing this, I’m not doing that,’ I don’t have the day I had today, without them.

“At the end of the day, I want to win. That’s my main goal. When I line up, I want to win.”

After playing in his 90th NFL regular-season game on Sunday, Jones has 563 receptions for 8,649 yards.

Jones broke the 90-game reception record of 558 established by Anquan Boldin with the Arizona Cardinals from 2003 through 2009.

Jones broke the 90-game receiving-yards record of 8,502 established by Lance Alworth with the San Diego Chargers from 1962 through 1969.

Two of Jones’ receptions produced touchdowns against Tampa Bay. In the second quarter, he caught a 51-yard scoring pass thrown by wide receiver Mohamed Sanu and a 25-yard TD pass from quarterback Matt Ryan as the Falcons took a 17-3 lead.

Jones celebrated by pretending to play Red Light, Green Light with his teammates after one score and doing some fake fencing after the other.

“We’re just trying to be creative,” Jones said. “It’s one of those things that brings us together.”

Jones was among the 24 former Alabama players who got on the field during the 12th Sunday of the NFL’s 2017 season.