Julio to miss 3rd straight game with hamstring injury

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones will miss his third consecutive game Sunday versus the Kansas City Chiefs due to a hamstring injury, the team announced Friday.

Overall, Week 16 will mark the sixth contest of the season that Jones has missed. He's been battling a bad hamstring since before the season and first aggravated it in Week 2's loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

In nine appearances this year, Jones has 51 catches for 771 yards and three touchdowns. Despite being in and out of the lineup, he ranks second on the team in receiving, trailing only Calvin Ridley.

With the Falcons nowhere near the playoff race, it seems unlikely that Atlanta will push Jones to return for the Jan. 3 season finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team considered shutting him down earlier in December, though it never officially declared Jones out for the remainder of the season.

Jones, who will turn 32 in February, is guaranteed $15.3 million in base salary next season and will carry a cap hit of $23.05 million.