FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn said he expects Julio Jones to be ready to face the New Orleans Saints on Thursday night. That opinion was echoed by the Falcons' top receiver, despite the fact that he is battling right hamstring tightness and a toe injury.
On Wednesday, the Falcons listed Jones as probable to play in Thursday night's game.
Jones said he would "most definitely" play against the Saints when he spoke with ESPN's Josina Anderson after Sunday's Redskins game, but he softened his stance a little Tuesday when he said his plan is to play.
"If I can go, I'm going to go,'' Jones said. "I'm going to have to be really down bad not to go out there and play. If I feel like I'm putting myself in danger, as far as not being able to go out there and make defenders miss, then I won't go. If I feel like I can do that and help my team by going out there and drawing coverage and doing my job, I'm going to go.''
Jones, who missed practice Monday, participated in Tuesday's walk-through and was on the field for the beginning of practice. But he didn't participate in the practice session.
"From what we saw, he's doing good,'' Quinn said. "And we anticipate him playing for the game.''
Jones said Tuesday that his foot would have to be cut off to keep him from playing.
"History shows I've played on a broken foot and a lot of hamstring injuries,'' Jones said. "Everybody is playing hurt. It's the NFL. Everybody going to have nicks and bruises.''
If Jones follows through on his words and suits up, he should have an impact, even if he's not 100 percent.
"The defense, they still have to respect me,'' Jones said in reference to how he played against the Redskins, despite being banged up. "They still have to put two guys on me. And I think I did my job.''
Jones played 73 of 80 offensive snaps in his team's 25-19 win over the Redskins, despite being listed as questionable entering the contest.
