LONDON — Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones is not throwing in the towel after the team’s porous 2-5 start.

Jones has 49 catches for 676 yards and three touchdowns as he’s coming back from a broken foot that ended his 2013 season after five games.

However, the team’s offensive woes – beginning with five offensive linemen on injured reserve – have slowed their efforts again.

“It comes with it,” Jones said. “We can’t control injuries. We had a lot of them on our offensive line this year. We just have to stay positive and find ways to get the ball out of Matt’s hands early.”

Jones believes he can be available early against a lot of man-to-man coverage.

“Even though we can’t take those deep throws down the field, those shot plays, including myself, we just have to catch the ball on slants, hitches,” Jones said. “Just routine catches. We just have to catch those balls and beat man-to-man.”

With such leaky pass protection, Jones believes the offense can make defenses pay.

“The corners are kind of sitting on us because they feel like they’re getting a lot of pressure on (quarterback) Matt (Ryan) right now, and everybody’s just sitting on us,” Jones said. “So they’re like, ‘ok, just make this tackle.’ We just have to catch the ball, break a tackle and we can make them pay.”

Jones, for whom the Falcons traded five draft picks to move up from 27th to sixth overall in 2011 to draft, doesn’t shy away from his burden.

“I just got to continue to do my job. I can’t go out there and be Superman,” Jones said. “I want to, but as long as I’m doing my job and all my other teammates are doing their jobs we’ll be successful. We’ve just been so inconsistent early on. It’s a play here, a play there. Like I said, we’ve just got to be consistent.”

The Falcons were nearly shut out for the first time in 10 seasons last week. They put together a late touchdown drive to avert a shutout on a 4-yard touchdown pass to Roddy White.

There were some keys to the late drive.

“We blocked them up, and Matt had a little bit more time to get the ball out of his hands,” Jones said. “We kind of knew where he was going early on. One high safety, I kind of have a double move, kind of quick, and it was like 34 yards or so, but we just got to be consistent. The plays are there, we’re just not making them as an offensive unit. We’re missing them by inches. We’re missing them.”

The Falcons are about to start their third center and fifth different offensive line combination against stingy Detroit, which ranks No. 1 in overall defense while giving up an average of 290.3 yards per game.

“We definitely have to get off to a fast start,” Jones said. “We have so many play makers on our team. We can’t go out there and get three-and-outs. I mean that’s unacceptable.

“We hear from everybody else, ‘Aw, y’all not good. Y’all not this.’ We’re harder on ourselves than anyone is hard on us. We’re just too good to be doing that. Like I said, we’re missing by inches every time, or somebody’s missing their block, or the receivers we’re not picking up the right guy, we’re dropping balls, routine catches.”

Jones senses that the Falcons can pull it all together.

“We have to change that,” Jones said. “We’re a scoring team; we’re a high-temp team. We practice that way. We just have to keep going. We just have to stay positive and keep working and get this thing turned around.”

–During the Falcons’ open portion of practice Wednesday, offensive lineman Harland Gunn was working on his snaps at center with starting quarterback Matt Ryan at the Arsenal Football Club training ground.

Gunn was inactive last week against Baltimore.

With Konz out, Gunn gives the Falcons a veteran option to play center. Stone finished the Baltimore game, playing 56 of the 66 offensive snaps.

“I think James is a very good young football player that understands the game,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “He impressed us early on with his ability to identify fronts and change protections. He’s an intelligent young guy, but he just doesn’t have any experience.”

Ryan said he’s glad the team is away and in a hotel because he has had extra time to watch film with Stone make sure they are on the same page.

“James has done a great job since the first day he walked into the building,” Ryan said. “He’s a smart guy and has picked up our offense very quickly. I think (line coach) Mike Tice and (assistant line coach) Wade (Harman) have done a good job of working with our young guys.”

MEDICAL WATCH: WR Harry Douglas (foot) did not practice on Wednesday. Douglas, who has 12 catches for 121 yards and one touchdown, was injured in the third game of the season against Tampa Bay and has been inactive for the past four games. … DT Jonathan Babineaux did not practice on Wednesday with a foot injury. … Jones (ankle), LG Justin Blalock (back) and LB Prince Shembo were limited in practice.

SERIES HISTORY: The Lions lead the series 23-12, but the Falcons have won the past three games including a 34-21 win in 2008, 23-16 in 2011 and 31-18 in 2012. In the previous meeting, Ryan completed 25 of 32 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns.

GAME PLAN: Matt Ryan and Julio Jones are both expecting the Lions to attack the line of scrimmage and leave the wide receivers in one-on-one situations.

“We’re going to make the adjustments,” Ryan said. “That’s a big part of what we’ve been in the past as an explosive offense. We’ve got to find ways to create more explosive plays.”

Since the injuries started to mount in the Minnesota game, the Falcons have scored 28, 20, 13 and 7 points. The team’s net yards have similarly decreased from 411 yards, 397, 287 to 254.

Ryan passed for a season-low 228 yards last week against the Ravens.

We need to score points early,” Ryan said. “We need to be in games as opposed to playing from behind. We’ve had to do that a little bit the last couple of weeks.”

Ryan has a few other things to jumpstart the offense.

“The other thing I think we need to do is that we have to stay ahead of the chains,” Ryan said. “I think on first down and second downs, we need to be more efficient. We have to get into more situations where it’s conducive to running the football.”

MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

Lions RB Joique Bell, who ran strong as the lead back against the Saints, vs. Falcons LB Paul Worrilow, who’s second in the league with 54 tackles: Bell, who had 48 yards rushing and scored on a 1-yard run, played 52 of a possible 70 offensive snaps (74 percent) against the Saints. Lions coach Jim Caldwell insisted that Bush’s limited role was due to injury, not lack of production. Worrilow posted his 11th career game with double-digit tackles, notching 10 tackles (three solo) at Baltimore. He has recorded double-digit tackles in four games this season.

Lions WR Golden Tate, who’s stepping up with Calvin Johnson out with an ankle injury, vs. Falcons CB Robert Alford, who had two interceptions: Tate helped lead the comeback against New Orleans with a 73-yard touchdown catch. He has 48 catches for 649 yards and two touchdowns. Both of Alford’s interceptions came in the end zone to stop scoring threats. He is the first Falcon to post multiple interceptions in a game since safety William Moore picked off Saints quarterback Drew Brees twice on Nov. 29, 2012.

Lions DT Nick Fairley vs. Falcons LG Justin Blalock, who’s having a tough time with a back injury: Fairley was demoted during training camp. He hired a personal chef to help him keep his weight down and he has been able to elevate his play with 14 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Blalock will be left in a one-on-one matchup with Fairley as the Falcons will have to double-team Ndamukong Suh with the center.