Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones has been named NFC Offensive Player of the Month for his performance through the month of September.
After the first month of the season, Jones leads the NFL with 34 receptions and 440 yards while adding four touchdowns. He finished his record-setting month with 12 catches and 164 yards in Week 3, becoming the first player in NFL history to post 135 receiving yards in each of a team's first three games in a season. He also set an NFL record for most receptions in the first three weeks of a season (34). Since 2001, his 440 receiving yards in the first three weeks are the most by an NFC player and the third most by any receiver (W. Welker – 2011 – 458 | Chad Johnson – 2007 – 442).
Jones is the only player in the NFC to post multiple games with 10-or-more receptions and his four receiving touchdowns rank second in the conference. He leads all NFC wide outs with 160 yards after the catch and has caught nearly 75 percent of the League-high 46 passes thrown his way. Jones also leads the NFL with 23 first down receptions. According to Pro Football Focus, QB Matt Ryan owns a 140.3 passer rating when targeting Jones, which is the second-best mark in the NFC.
Jones won NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance on Monday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles when he caught nine passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns. He also won NFC Offensive Rookie of the month for December/January in 2011. Jones joins Andre Rison (October 1990) and Roddy White (October 2010), as the only Falcons wide receivers to win the Player of the Month award.
