FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones has a chance to accomplish an historic feat on Sunday, but it's far from the top of his priority list.
With eight catches against Tampa Bay, Jones would surpass Anquan Boldin for the most catches for a player through his first 90 games in NFL history. Jones has 551 catches. Boldin had 558 through 90 games with the Arizona Cardinals, and Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown is second with 554 catches through his first 90 games with the Steelers.
"I would mean a lot, for my teammates," Jones said. "It's not just about me. All the way down from the [offensive coordinators] we've had here -- from Mike Mularkey to Dirk Koetter to Kyle Shanahan to now Sark [Steve Sarkisian] -- it's them just getting me the ball, at the end of the day.
"Eight catches? Man, I don't even look at stuff like that. That stuff just comes about. I just play ball."
Jones, with 8,396 receiving yards, also could surpass Hall of Famer Lance Alworth for the most receiving yards for a player through 90 games. Alworth had 8,502.
Surpassing a Hall of Famer certainly would carry a little added significance, right?
"No doubt," Jones said, "but like I said, it comes with it. I just go ball. It is what it is. I just want to win. At the end of the day, I just want to win football games."
Jones' season-high of nine catches came in a Week 7 loss to New England. His season-high 118 receiving yards came in a loss at Carolina. He's averaged 5.4 receptions, 78.6 yards, and 8.6 targets per game. His career averages are 6.2 receptions, 94.3 yards, and 9.6 targets per contest.
The Falcons talk every week about getting Jones more involved. At the same time, the attention he draws continues to open up opportunities for others.
"We've just been spreading the ball around offensively," Jones said. "And we haven't been getting behind as far as like when we have a holding penalty, an offside, a false start or something like that. Or missing an opportunity on a down. Those things haven't been hindering us."
In 10 previous games against Tampa Bay, Jones has averaged 6.8 receptions, 110.6 yards, and 9.5 targets. He has eight touchdowns and six games of at least 100 yards in those contests.
The Buccaneers are coached by Koetter, the Falcons' former coordinator. Former Falcons head coach Mike Smith is Tampa Bay's defensive coordinator. And the Buccaneers' secondary includes two former Falcons -- left cornerback Brent Grimes and nickel back Robert McClain.
"We don't know who is going to be starting at right corner, if it's going to be [Ryan] Smith or whatnot," Jones said. "But yeah, [the teams] know each other. We just have to go to work and just capitalize. We know it's going to be a hard-fought game because they know us; we know them. It ain't going to be no really trying to trick each other. We're just going out there to play championship football."