The Julio Jones the Eagles signed isn’t the one you remember. That doesn’t mean he can’t help.

The Eagles didn’t sign Julio Jones to be Julio Jones. They’re not asking Julio Jones to be Julio Jones, and even after their loss Sunday to the Jets, they don’t need Julio Jones to be Julio Jones.

Julio Jones was one of the best wide receivers the NFL has ever seen. From 2011 through 2019, his first nine seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, Julio Jones was arguably the best wide receiver in the league. Six-foot-3, 220 pounds. Strong as hell. Fast as hell. Great hands. The ground seemed to rumble when he ran. Made one of the great catches in Super Bowl history, on an even greater pass from Matt Ryan, a connection that should have won the Falcons a championship and is now forgotten because they didn’t win that championship. Because … well … 28-3. Nobody has forgotten that. Still, Julio Jones was something else.

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The Eagles are not getting Julio Jones, though, and it’s important to remember that fact. They signed Julio Jones to the practice squad Tuesday. They needed to add depth and size with their wide-receiving group, having placed Quez Watkins on injured reserve Saturday, with Olamide Zaccheaus, who is 5-foot-8, remaining as their No. 3 receiver. Julio Jones, who averaged 89 receptions and more than 1,300 every 17 games over those nine out-of-the-gate years, wasn’t available. Julio Jones, who caught 24 passes in 10 games last season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who 13 months ago suffered a partial tear of the posterior cruciate ligament in one of his knees, who hasn’t played in more than 10 games in a season since 2019, who wasn’t on any team’s roster before Tuesday, was.

Just because Julio Jones is no longer Julio Jones, though, doesn’t mean he can’t and won’t help the Eagles or that he’ll cause any problems once he arrives. Part of the reason that the Falcons traded Jones to the Tennessee Titans in 2021 was that A.J. Brown had lobbied to bring him to Nashville. Brown admired him, and admires him, that much. There shouldn’t be any bad locker-room vibes or repercussions for Jones’ presence.

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Dirk Koetter, who had two stints as the Falcons’ offensive coordinator and coached Jones in both, was golfing at Whistling Straits in Sheboygan, Wis., when he learned that the Eagles had signed Jones. He had no idea, he said, what kind of physical shape Jones was in now. Jones is 34 now, after all, and Koetter hadn’t coached him since 2020. But he had no reservations or criticisms about any of Jones’ other qualities.

“Julio is a consummate pro,” Koetter said in a phone interview. “He’s going to be great in the locker room. The guy is skilled beyond belief, a very smart football player, a great situational player. He’s always taken care of himself. He knows how to run routes, and schematically, he’ll pick all that up. He’s a smart football player and always has been.

“Julio can do anything that’s needed of him. The only question at any time would just be his health and if can he maintain it. Other than that, in everything else, he’s the total package.”

During the 2016 season, the same season that ended for the Falcons with … 28-3 … Ryan said in an interview that Jones was “incredibly unselfish and gives incredible effort in the run game — one of best blockers in the league.” That was seven years ago, sure, but any attribute that maybe, just maybe, makes the Eagles better at running the ball — and maybe, just maybe, encourages them to run the ball when they probably ought to run it — is a good thing. Shame they didn’t have Julio Jones for their next-to-last offensive possession Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Of course, considering the number of passes that the Eagles dropped, they could have used Julio Jones, too.

» READ MORE: The Eagles’ loss to the Jets, and the way it happened, felt like more than just a hiccup.

“He’s probably impacted my career more significantly than any other player,” Ryan told reporters in 2021, “and I’ve been really fortunate to be around him for as long as I have. I’ve been so lucky to play with him for the past decade. I know this: He’s always ready to go. He’s an incredible competitor and one of the best to ever do it at his position.”

That was Julio Jones, of the Atlanta Falcons. Here, everyone will see Julio Jones. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t a worthwhile move for the Eagles to bring him in. Just means you should set your expectations accordingly.