Julio Jones injury: Mike Smith says Falcons WR will get 2nd opinion

Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith confirmed Jones’ foot injury on Tuesday, saying the results of the first test were “not encouraging.” Jones will receive a second opinion Wednesday.

by James Brady

Oct 8, 2013, 6:42 PM UTC

Mike Ehrmann

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones will receive a second opinion Wednesday on his injured foot, head coach Mike Smith told reporters Tuesday. Smith confirmed reports that Jones underwent tests with team doctors earlier in the day, noting the initial results were “not encouraging,” but adding that it would be “premature” to label Jones as out for the season at this point.

“Julio injured his foot last night,” Smith said, according to the team’s official website. “He saw our doctors this morning. He is going to have a second opinion tomorrow over in Charlotte, North Carolina. The first reports were not encouraging, but we will wait to see what the second opinion comes back as.”

It’s not exactly clear when Jones suffered the injury, in part because he continued to play through it.

“I spoke with Julio and Julio is a tough guy in terms of the exact play, but we think we’ve pretty much pinpointed when it happened,” Smith said.

Earlier Tuesday, Fox Sports' Jay Glazer reported that Jones could miss the remainder of the 2013 season with a foot injury. This came after the NFL Network's Jeff Darlington reported Monday night that Jones was seen limping out of the X-ray room following the team's loss to the New York Jets on Monday Night Football.

As noted at The Falcoholic, losing Jones is a big deal. Through five weeks, he has the second-most receiving yardage in the NFL and has carried the load for Atlanta's offense while Roddy White has slowly recovered from a high ankle sprain. While White has played in every game this season, he's been used mostly as a decoy. The Falcons need him to increase his production if Jones' injury is as bad as it sounds.

Tight end Tony Gonzalez and fellow receiver Harry Douglas must also step it up if the team hopes to improve on its 1-4 record. Quarterback Matt Ryan has already had a tough season thus far, and he'll have to work doubly hard without the talented third-year receiver.