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FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones is confident he'll return to full strength from foot surgery, and his confidence has everything to do with his faith in Robert Anderson. Anderson is the Charlotte-based foot surgeon who performed the procedure on Jones' right foot last Oct. 13 after Jones suffered a fracture in a Oct. 7 loss to the New York Jets. Although he has yet to return to full practice, Jones feels like he's back to normal, thanks to Anderson.  "After I got the news about my foot, I got a second opinion, and I went to go see [Anderson] again,'' Jones told ESPN.com. "He saw me after the game. Got the X-ray. It was broken. So, I went to see him and see what I could do. I thought it would just be able to heal and what not. So he took extra precaution. "He said, 'OK, we need a bone graph of your hip and to take bone marrow out of your hip and put it in your foot. Then also, we have to put a bigger screw in your foot to prevent any more stress fractures on the fifth metatarsal.' So, he put a 6 screw in there -- I'm not a doctor so I don't know what that is. It's supposed to be the biggest one you could possibly put in there. And he also put bone marrow in there to add more bone around it to secure it more so it will be even stronger than it was before I even broke it.'' Anderson is the same specialist Jones saw after a break was discovered in the same foot following the 2011 NFL combine. Jones recovered fine from the first surgery and went on to catch 54 passes for 959 yards and eight touchdowns in 13 games during his rookie season. "I trust him,'' Jones said of Anderson. "He means a lot to me as far as that aspect of it. I put my trust into him because this is my livelihood. This is how I feed my family and everything else.'' Jones said his agent, Jimmy Sexton, helped him initially connect with Anderson, who has worked on other athletes such as Raiders quarterback Matt Schaub and NBA guard Stephen Curry. "I just took his word on him,'' Jones said of Sexton recommending Anderson. "And after the first surgery, man, I was back in no time. No question I went back to him again because I knew he was the best at what he did. My other fracture that I had healed up perfectly. He took the screw out when he put the other screw in. I haven't had a problem with that part of my foot.'' Jones said he feels stronger because of countless hours of squat-lifting and being able to build strength in his quads, hamstrings, and glutes. As far as regaining his speed, Jones said it won't be an issue. "That doesn't play a part at all in my thinking or my mindset,'' Jones said of the possibility of losing a little speed and explosion. "I just get back in the weight room and work hard; continue to do what I've been doing. I'm just doing a little extra stuff because I was out for seven months and I wasn't able to run. So I had to do other things to get my quads even stronger than my hamstrings, and that's why I started doing back-squatting and doing a lot of other stuff.'' Jones has been held out this offseason, including this week's minicamp. But he is expected to be a full participant in training camp. Jones acknowledged the person who kept his spirits up throughout the recovery process. "My mom,'' Jones said. "She came out and she took care of me. And I'm a very strong person anyway, just the way she raised me. I don't let nothing get to me or pull me down. Everything happens for a reason. So it didn't bother me at all. But, like I said, my mother was very supportive through the whole process.''
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