Byard: Julio Jones Got What He Wanted

Kevin Byard heard what the rest of the sports world heard.

When Julio Jones made an unscheduled appearance last month on the Fox Sports debate show Undisputed, courtesy of a cold call from co-host Shannon Sharpe, he made clear what he wanted from an expected trade out of Atlanta.

“I want to win,” Jones told Sharpe.

The deal got done Sunday when the Tennessee Titans gave up a second-round draft pick in 2022 and a fourth-round selection in 2023 for Jones (plus a 2023 sixth-round choice).

And Byard, one of the seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver’s new teammates, says that Jones got what he wanted.

“He’s going to walk into a winning culture, an environment that guys come in every single day with a hard hat, come in here ready to work,” Byard said Monday during an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “And everybody’s all in on trying to win a championship.

“So, obviously, [based on] some of the things he said in the media, that’s what he’s looking for. And I think he found it here in Tennessee.”

The Titans are one of two NFL teams that have finished with a winning record in each of the last five seasons (Seattle is the other). Tennessee has been to the playoffs three times in the last four years, reached the AFC Championship game two years ago and last season won their first division title in 12 years when it went 11-5.

Jones, the sixth overall pick in the 2011 draft, spent 10 seasons with Atlanta and was a part of four playoff teams, the last in 2017. The Falcons reached the conference championship in his second season and played in Super Bowl LI to cap the 2016 campaign. They lost that one to New England after having led by 25 in the second half.

In eight career playoff games, Jones has averaged 7.6 receptions, 104.3 yards and 0.8 touchdowns. Those numbers actually exceed his regular-season averages of 6.3 receptions, 95.5 yards and 0.4 touchdowns.

“Julio Jones is one of the best, if not the best receiver of our era,” Byard said. “The guy is an incredible talent. I mean, his stats show it all. So, happy to have him in the locker room.

“… Julio coming in here, I don’t think it’s going to be about targets and it’s going to be about yards for him. I think it’s going to be all about winning ballgames. I think that’s the mentality of our entire team, the mentality of our entire offense. … We just want to win ballgames. So, whatever we have to do to win, that’s what guys are going to do.”