Julio Jones will not play in the preseason

[Freddie Falcon]

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As the NFL preseason becomes increasingly meaningless, teams are increasingly deciding not to risk injury to their star players. Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones is the latest example.

Jones told reporters that he will not play at all in any of the Falcons’ preseason games this year. Jones didn’t play in the preseason last year, either, and the year before he appeared in just one preseason game and didn’t catch a pass.

Although Jones and the Falcons are in the process of renegotiating his contract, there’s no indication that sitting out the preseason is any kind of contract holdout. Instead, it’s just acknowledging the reality that Jones and Matt Ryan have played together for years and are already on the same page, and any benefit they might get from running some live plays together is far outweighed by the risk of injury.

Jones will prove to be far from the only NFL star who sits out the preseason.