It’s still kind of surreal to see wide receiver Julio Jones in a Bucs uniform. The seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver had been a thorn in Tampa Bay’s side for so long with the Falcons, but now he’s a part of the team.

And even with the time Tom Brady missed during training camp, the veteran receiver said he feels like he’s on the same page with his quarterback. Now, it’s just about getting live game reps to continue building that chemistry.

Bucs QB Tom Brady and WR Julio Jones – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“It’s just all about getting live game reps,” Jones said. “I feel like we’re on the same page, quarterback and receiver. I think it’s more so when you get in the game, how you adjust, because I feel like you’re going to get different looks and things like that. Un-scouted looks when you get into a game. And then, as long as we’re seeing the same thing through one set of lenses, I think that’s always important. The biggest thing for us is to keep communicating and hopefully I’m seeing what he’s seeing [and] he’s seeing what I’m seeing.”

Jones’ addition to the team gave the Bucs one of the deepest wide receiver rooms in the NFL, at least on paper. After spending a month with the guys in the locker room, Jones’ biggest takeaway is the team-first mentality the receivers share and the trust they have in each other to make a play.

“I think the biggest thing for our room is that we don’t have guys that are selfish,” Jones said. “That’s a big part of it. Everybody in our room can be a number one receiver, can beat one-on-one matchups and take over a game. I just think the team camaraderie that we have and the brotherhood that we have in our room, that we want each other to go out there and excel. Regardless of if it’s me making a play, Mike [Evans], CG [Chris Godwin], Russ [Gage], JD [Jaelon Darden], it doesn’t matter. Whoever is up, we feel like everybody can go out there and make a play. We expect that and everybody should expect that out of themselves as well.”

Bouncing Back From Tennessee Tenure

Bucs WRs Julio Jones and Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

While the last two seasons with the Titans didn’t go exactly to plan for the veteran wide receiver, he’s looked sharp in training camp. Jones appears to be the same dynamic playmaker he was all those years in Atlanta. In the final preseason game against the Colts, Jones played nine snaps on offense and caught a 20-yard pass from Brady. Head coach Todd Bowles hasn’t seen any drop-off in his play and says he has been a huge addition to the locker room.

“Well, he can play,” Bowles said. “When we got him, he was kind of out of shape, so we kind of limited his number of plays during practice. He’s kind of gotten to the point where he’s returned to his old self. He’s been great mentally, he’s been great for the guys in the room as well as out on the practice field, DBs alike.

“Right now, he can play. We have a bunch of receivers that can play, so the pitch count should be kind of even depending on who we play and how we play it. We think he can lend a lot for us – we’ve just got to knock on wood and keep him healthy.”

Jones will get his first shot at playing meaningful snaps in Sunday’s season opener against the Cowboys. And the veteran receiver has been preparing himself to play more than just a handful of snaps.

Bucs WR Julio Jones – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“For me, how I look at the game plan, it’s really more about me preparing myself to get ready and go out there and play four and five quarters of football,” Jones said. “I think for us receivers, these guys got to cover us, we don’t have to cover them. We look at tendencies and things like that, but when we get in the game, it’s different.

“We just have to see what the defense is going to give us and take it. People have game plans and sometimes they go out the window, sometimes they try to stick to them. But with the guys we have, we want to try to make defensive coordinators change their game plan.”

Jones will get his chance to adjust the way defensive coordinators attack the Bucs wide receiver starting Sunday night, and he’ll do so in a shiny new number. After wearing No. 85 throughout training camp and the preseason, he has officially made the switch to No. 6.