Julio Jones suffered late-week hamstring setback; will play for Falcons, fantasy owners

(Editor’s update: Jones is officially active for Sunday’s game. Get him in all lineups.)

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones saw his hamstring situation worsen late in the week, according to Jay Glazer. The star receiver is expected to test his hamstring in pregame to make sure he’s able to play in Atlanta’s Sunday game against Washington, but is expected to play in the game. NFL Network’s Tiffany Blackmon said he will definitely play in the game.

Through four weeks, Jones has been the Falcons’ leading receiver, and maybe the league’s best. He has 478 yards on 38 catches (52 targets), with four touchdowns. Leonard Hankerson has seized the team’s No. 2 receiver role, with 241 yards and two scores. Roddy White has slipped to the team’s No. 3 role, with only six catches for 92 yards so far.

Fantasy impact: Worrying about nagging injuries is part of the equation when drafting Jones, and this week is no different. Everything so far points to him being active for Sunday’s game against a sub-par Washington secondary. Assuming Jones does play, he should be in every fantasy lineup; even if the team takes it a little easy on him to manage his injury, in that game he needs only one play to be relevant.

Keep an eye on the actives/inactives leading up to Sunday’s game; if a surprise happens and Jones is inactive, Hankerson becomes close to a No. 1 receiver, and White finds himself with some relevance again. But again, that seems unlikely.