Wide receiver Julio Jones told the Atlanta Falcons he won't attend this week's mandatory minicamp, the team announced Monday.
"We have been in contact with Julio and his representation," general manager Thomas Dimitroff said in a statement. "We will not discuss those conversations publicly except to say we feel they have been productive and constructive. We understand the concerns and thoughts from their perspective."
According to an ESPN report, Jones' decision to skip minicamp stems from an unsatisfactory response to a contract proposal in recent weeks. Jones has missed the Falcons' offseason conditioning program and organized team activities — all of which is voluntary. The minicamp, the team's final practice before training camp starts in late July, is the only mandatory portion of the offseason, with players who don't attend subject to fines.
The NFL Network reported in May that Jones would like "some sort of correction or update" to his contract — which still has two years remaining — adding that the Falcons are "amenable" to working something out, in part because of how good of a player and teammate Jones is.
In other NFL news, New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman's impending four-game suspension for performance-enhancing drug use is a result of him testing positive for an "unrecognizable substance," according to Albert Breer of The MMQB.
Edelman apologized for the positive test in an Instagram post on Friday, saying "I don't know what happened."
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