The Atlanta Falcons have suffered yet another injury to their offense. Wide receiver Julio Jones suffered a foot injury that is certain to keep him out for the rest of the season. With Roddie White battling his ankle sprain at the beginning of the year, the Falcons have been plagued with uncertainty this season. The Falcons are struggling to stay healthy this year, and they don’t know how many more injuries they can take.

Jones suffered the injury during Monday night’s 30-28 loss to the New York Jets. Antonio Cromartie, starting cornerback for the Jets, fell on Jones during an attempt for a pass. As the two fell, Jones was smashed under the 210 pound cornerback. Although the pass was complete, the weight from the cornerback caused the receiver’s foot to hit the ground with great impact.

Jones had previously suffered a foot fracture which caused him to have surgery. The doctors put a screw through his foot so that it would hold the bone together. The recovery time took a while partly because with all the impact on his foot, it would be hard to rest. As the receiver hit the ground, the screw from his previous injury cracked in half.

After the game on Monday, head coach Mike Smith took Jones to a doctor to see if there was any chance of Julio being able to play the rest of the season. They went to Charlotte the next day to get a second opinion. Even though they went in seeking good news, it brought the exact opposite. Jones was informed that he not only couldn’t play for the rest of the season, but he would have to undergo another surgery as well. I think the question on everyone’s mind is more importantly, how are the Falcons going to replace Julio?

According to ESPN, Falcons’ wide receiver coach Terry Robiskie said, “No one is even close to Jones in terms of being an explosive deep threat. Julio moves the earth when he runs. People don’t realize that. When Julio passes by you, the ground is shaking.”

Although what the coach said was comforting, I thought it might be beneficial to get the opinion of a student who highly participates in fantasy football.

Senior Chris Hall is one of the biggest sport junkies I know, if I need to know anything about sports I normally just go and ask him.

“I think since Julio is out for the season, the Flacons are screwed,” said Hall. “He was easily their best wide receiver and they don’t have anyone else on the team that could fill his spot. Thank God I didn’t have him on my fantasy team haha.”

It doesn’t look like the Falcons are going to be able to shake this one. With one of their only decent receivers out with an ankle sprain (Roddie White), they don’t have many options. One possibility would be to make a late trade or sign a free agent, but there isn’t a deep enough pool of talent to dip into. There is not much the Falcons’ offense can do now except pray that someone comes along to replace him, but the loss of Julio Jones has crippled the team for the season and it doesn’t look like they’re going to dodge their way out of this one.