Julio Jones reacts to ‘surreal’ Tom Brady chance
Wide receiver Julio Jones played 10 years with the Atlanta Falcons and one with the Tennessee Titans before joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Julio Jones was introduced as a new player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the wide receiver declared in his first press conference following the move that playing with the team’s legendary quarterback Tom Brady is something surreal.
What Tom Brady partnership means for Jones
“It’s just a surreal moment. It’s amazing,” Jones said about linking up with the most successful QB. “I’m ready to go, though.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about accountability. I have to be accountable for him, the team, everybody, right? With all that said and done, I’ve still got to come to work. I still have to put the work in.
“You can say, ‘Oh yeah, Julio’s with the Bucs, we got Mike [Evans], we got Tom,’ but we’ve all got to put the work in. Nobody’s going to give us anything. So we’ve just got to come out here and work each and every day. That’s all it’s about,” Jones explained.
“Tom’s a great guy, man. Who you want to be leading your ballclub, who you want to play for,” he added.
Asked if he had ever thought he’d play for the Bucs after being a member of the Atlanta Falcons for a decade, the wide receiver said no, but that he was excited to be a part of something. especially in Tampa Bay.
“I didn’t, I didn’t think that. But that’s the past. I’m here now. I’m looking forward, I’m not looking backwards. It’s a great opportunity for me to be a part of something special in the Buccaneer family. Just looking forward to getting to work.”
The Alabama product played 134 games with the Falcons and had 12,896 yards and 60 touchdowns, catching 848 of 1,320 throws directed at him. With the Titans, his appearance was limited to just 10 games due to multiple injuries and so was only able to total 434 yards and one touchdown while catching 31 passes.
Bucs’ super powerful offense
The Buccaneers’ offense will be a powerful one again this season as, in addition to Jones, they have wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, as well as tight end Kyle Rudolph and running backs Leonard Fournette and Giovanni Bernard. With that in mind, the former Falcons player had a suggestion for opposing defenses.
“I think defenses should zone out just because of the offensive weapons we have, there are a lot of them and that’s great. At the end of the day, we must stay healthy and work daily. At the end of the game or the season, whatever happens, happens. We must take it one day at a time and work on improving our chemistry,“ said the wide receiver.