June Jones: Chances Slim George Will Return to Falcons

ATLANTA (AP) _ June Jones thought Jeff George was going to be the ideal quarterback to direct his run-and-shoot offense.

Chances are George will never lead the Atlanta Falcons offense again in the aftermath of his sideline spat with the coach during Sunday night's loss to Philadelphia.

Jones suspended George on Monday and was asked after a Wednesday practice if he was disappointed after three years with George.

``It's disappointing that I wasn't able to take him to the next level that I wanted to take him,'' Jones said. ``I thought we were going to have the opportunity to do that this year and, like I said, circumstances changed that in a hurry.''

Jones also said he could not give an answer on the odds of George returning to the team.

``I would say it would be very slim though,'' he said.

Jones said he and general manager Ken Herock will get together after Sunday's game against the 49ers in San Francisco to decide something if nothing has transpired since then.

George is convinced he's through in Atlanta, although he insisted at a news conference Wednesday that he's still a Falcon.

``It's fairly clear he's played his last game as a Falcon,'' said agent Leigh Steinberg.

George painted himself as a model team player who would someday take a team _ not necessarily the Falcons _ to the Super Bowl.

A source close to George, speaking on condition he not be identified, said the Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baltimore Ravens have expressed interest.

``Absolutely, if it's not here, I'll find a team. There's a team out here that's in need of a quarterback, a quarterback away from the Super Bowl. There's no doubt _ I'm confident in my mind that I can lead them to where they want to go,'' George said.

George said he has not apologized to Jones, and will not. He said any competitive quarterback would complain about being removed, and he would do it again if the situation arose.

Though he has been a controversial figure for years, and is not popular with the fans, the strong-armed George maintained he would be an asset to any NFL team.

``You get labeled. You get stereotyped. You can't fight that,'' he said.

``Some of the greatest quarterbacks who ever played this game get labeled,'' George added. ``One of my idols as a young guy was Terry Bradshaw. I can remember all the stories about that guy not being a smart quarterback. Yet that guy that wasn't a smart quarterback won four Super Bowls.''

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