FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank shook his head about the commotion created by top wide receiver Julio Jones not catching a touchdown pass through the first four games.
"Julio doesn't care about stuff like that," Blank told ESPN. "Julio is a very selfless player. He cares about the team."
Blank pointed to the last play of last week's 37-36 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals as evidence of what type of mentality Jones plays with on a weekly basis.
"If you watch the replay on that, that was a [45]-yard pass, he caught it at the [10]-yard line, and he almost dragged three guys," Blank said. "He just doesn't give up. I mean, he's blocking all over the field, too. That's the kind of role model you want for a young player like Calvin Ridley. And Calvin's an anxious learner."
Jones' lack of touchdown production might frustrate fantasy football owners, but he doesn't care. He often talks about how statistics are meaningless to him, especially if the team isn't winning. And the Falcons are 1-3 right now going into Sunday's crucial road game against the 1-2-1 Pittsburgh Steelers (1 p.m. ET, Fox).
Jones leads the NFL with 502 receiving yards on 29 catches, and his 125.5 receiving yards per game puts him on pace to become the first player in NFL history to reach 2,000 receiving yards. However, the focus from the outside always appears to shift to why Jones hasn't scored a touchdown, particularly coming off three total touchdowns last season. In 2017, he didn't score his first touchdown until Oct. 22 against the Patriots.
"His production is through the roof," quarterback Matt Ryan said in defense of Jones. "I think he's leading the league in yards. ... He's going to find the end zone. People are accounting for him and are continuing to account for him, even with the production of other guys. So he stays unselfish when he gets his opportunities and makes plays. Nobody plays harder than him. We'd love for him to get in the end zone, but we have to find ways to get into the end zone, whoever [it] is. And he's 100 percent on board with that, too."
The Falcons are 12-of-18 in the red zone this season with Ryan throwing eight touchdowns, four to the rookie Ridley, who leads the NFL with six touchdown receptions. Jones has been targeted three times on 25 routes in the red zone and has no catches to show for it. All three targets were in a season-opening loss at Philadelphia, and the last one could have been a game winner had it been placed where Ryan wanted to throw it.
In taking a look back at Ryan's eight red zone touchdown passes, each went to the side opposite of where Jones was lined up. Last week against the Bengals, Jones was bracketed out of the slot to the right when Ryan found Ridley for an 11-yard touchdown off a slant to the left. And Ryan found tight end Logan Paulsen for a touchdown on the right side as Jones and Mohamed Sanu aligned left with three defenders, with the safety ready to double either one.
"Going into a game, D-coordinators, they're usually going to take me away, and I'm completely fine with that," Jones said. "We've got guys to make them pay. As you see, Calvin's been taking advantage of his opportunities, and that's why we drafted him here, to do those things. Mohamed is another guy. Austin Hooper is another one. I mean, it goes on. A lot of guys are stepping up and making plays when they get their one-on-one matchups."
Former NFL coach Bruce Arians, now an analyst for CBS, was impressed with Jones' selfless approach when he sat down with the Falcons star last week.
"Julio just wants to win," Arians said. "In talking to Julio, he's so happy for Calvin, and that's what it takes. You need a leader in the room that is unselfish and just wants to win, and they have that."
Maybe Jones will find the end zone Sunday in Pittsburgh. Besides, the Steelers have allowed 12 touchdown passes to opponents, the second most in the league behind Tampa Bay (13). But for Jones, a win is much more important than breaking his personal scoreless streak.
Right now the Falcons need the offense to carry the load with so many injuries on defense, and Jones firmly believes the offense hasn't played a complete game yet.
"It's all about my teammates and being successful, at the end of the day," Jones said. "I've had a lot of success by myself, but it's not good when you can't go and accomplish things as a team and have success as a team."