The Atlanta Falcons signed three-time Pro Bowl center Alex Mack in NFL free agency in 2016 and went to the Super Bowl for the second time in franchise history that season.

As he had with the Cleveland Browns, Mack earned Pro Bowl recognition three times with the Falcons – in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Wide receiver Julio Jones also received Pro Bowl invitations during those seasons with the Falcons, as well as during another campaign as Mack’s teammate in 2019.

During those four seasons, Jones had 383 receptions for 5,924 yards and 23 touchdowns. He led the NFC in receiving yards in each season and topped the NFL in 2018.

“Julio Jones is an incredible athlete – like a cheat code,” Mack said. “An incredibly gifted person on the field, and then what a great guy. He just put in the work, pretty humble. Me and him used to lift together, and he’d go rep for rep with me on squat. I’d have to be like, ‘I don’t know if you can go that heavy. Calm down. I’m a lineman; you’re a wide receiver.’

“But Julio’s a great dude, incredible player. Amazing to be able to play with him just to see what he could do with the ball.”

RELATED: JULIO JONES ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM THE NFL

Mack talked about Jones on Sunday in the same Alabama county where the wide receiver won the Alabama Mr. Football Award for 2007 at Foley High School. Mack was in Point Clear in Baldwin County to be inducted into the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame.

Between Foley and the Falcons, Jones played at Alabama, leaving as the sixth pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.

The next year, running back Trent Richardson left the Crimson Tide as the third selection in the NFL Draft, joining Mack on the Browns.

The Falcons traded five draft choices to Cleveland to move up from 26th to pick Jones in 2011. In 2012, the Browns traded four draft choices to move up one spot to pick Richardson.

Richardson ran for 950 yards and 11 touchdowns on 267 carries and caught 51 passes for 367 yards and one touchdown as a rookie. He was the ninth player in NFL history with at least 950 rushing yards and 50 receptions in his first season.

But two games into Richardson’s second season, Cleveland traded the running back to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a first-round draft pick.

In 32 games – 29 regular-season and three playoff – with the Colts, Richardson had 978 yards and six touchdowns on 320 rushing attempts and 55 receptions for 494 yards and one touchdown.

Indianapolis waived Richardson on March 12, 2015, and he never played in another NFL regular-season game.

“There was a play in which we checked down to Trent,” Mack recalled. “Trent breaks, like, seven tackles, and you get, like, 8 yards. Fantastic, that’s amazing. And then the coach points out, like, ‘Well, he was the checkdown. The first read is wide open down the field for 45.’

“He could do amazing things, but it all needs to work together. Trent, great, completely powerful back. It just didn’t – maybe it was the scheme or the way it worked out or injuries.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.