TEMPE, Ariz. -- Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones has seen cornerbacks try to shadow him before.

They will follow him to both sides of the field and into the slot. They will be his personal spy and mirror his every move. They will be occupied with him all game. But they won’t do it alone. Jones has noticed those cornerbacks can’t do it alone. He often sees two-man coverage, with a cornerback matched up on Jones at the line of scrimmage and a safety helping from behind.

Jones has also seen teams put the weaker of their two cornerbacks on him, essentially throwing in the white flag before a pass is thrown, letting their better cornerback lock down the opposite side of the field.

That won’t be the case Sunday.

Wherever Jones goes against the Arizona Cardinals, All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson will be waiting. If Jones lines up to the left of quarterback Matt Ryan, Peterson will be there. To the right? Peterson will be there, too. In the slot? Peterson, who rarely covers in the slot, will likely follow.

It’ll be a matchup of the NFL’s best receiver against one of the NFL’s best press-man cornerbacks.

"He’s definitely one of those mutants," Peterson said. "Somebody definitely created him in the lab somewhere with Dr. Doomsville or someone. The guy’s unbelievable. He really is. I’m happy to say that I had an opportunity to start this little history with him between us."

Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said he won’t have a chance to appreciate and enjoy what’s unfolding between Peterson and Jones while it’s happening in front of him live. He’ll reflect on it in February when he reviews the season.

If he were sitting in the stands at the Georgia Dome this weekend with a beer in hand, Arians would be on the edge of his seat all game watching the two face off.

"I would really enjoy that matchup, because there’s so much involved," Arians said. "It’s not just Patrick and Julio. It’s Matty Ryan and our pressure on him and the front four getting there. The great one-on-one matchups are always fun to watch."

There will be a difference this game for Jones. Peterson won’t have help.

It will be Peterson on Jones -- no one else -- and Jones appreciates that about Peterson.

All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson on Atlanta receiver Julio Jones: "He's definitely one of those mutants. Somebody definitely created him in the lab somewhere with Dr. Doomsville or someone." Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports

"Every once in a while, we’ll get a guy that will match up and want to play that way," Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. "(Jones is) used to that, too, and I know Pat is, as well."

To Peterson, this is the type of game and the type of matchup that, when he retires, will help define his legacy.

"This game means a lot to me and it’s important to me, as well, to go out there and have a good game, because Julio is the league’s best receiver right now," Peterson said.

Jones is among the few receivers in the league who comprise the standard against which cornerbacks are measured. How Peterson fares Sunday could go a long way in dictating the public’s perception of Peterson.

Facing Jones isn’t, Peterson said, the same as facing an average or even an above-average receiver.

"It’s a night and day difference, because I know I’m going to get 12 to 15 targets when I go up against Julio Jones versus any other receiver," Peterson said. "This way you have an opportunity to build your legacy when you go up against the league’s best. We have a great history with one another."

Although Peterson thinks about the matchup, Jones doesn’t.

"I don’t pay attention to that at all," Jones said. "Pat P., he’s a very talented guy but I’m not going to try to elevate my game or whatever it may be because I’m facing Pat P. Every week I get ready the same. I prepare the same way, try to stay consistent and not so much up and down."

They have faced each other since they were freshmen in the SEC in 2008, when Peterson was at LSU and Jones at Alabama. They were drafted back-to-back in 2011, with Peterson going fifth to the Cardinals and Jones to the Falcons at No. 6. Their rivalry continued in the NFL in 2012 and 2014.

It’s that last game, however, that still sticks with Peterson.

Jones caught 10 passes for 189 yards and one touchdown in a 29-18 Falcons' win in what Peterson called "definitely one of my worst games of my young NFL career."

Sunday is a chance for redemption. This season, the playing field might be a bit more even -- even if Peterson has been dealing with an illness that left him a "little woozy" Thursday. He wasn’t sure what the sickness was, but he was sent home from the Cardinals’ facility Wednesday after vomiting before practice. He said he wouldn't miss the game Sunday "for nothing in the world."

During the first half of the 2014 season, Peterson was dealing with the undiagnosed symptoms of Type 2 diabetes. He was sluggish and overweight, checking in at 228 points at times that season. By comparison, he’s been consistently weighing in at 203 this season. Peterson faced Jones in 2014 in Week 13, after the diagnosis. He wasn’t sure, looking back, how much he weighed for that game. But Peterson wasn’t the same cornerback he has been the past two seasons. Even Jones noticed he’s lost weight and looks to be in better shape.

"He moves a little better," Jones said.

Peterson also faces Jones as a better all-around cornerback. He committed himself before the 2015 to learning how to study film better. Two years into his new routine, Peterson feels he’s inside receivers' heads better.

"I know what they want to try to attack, what they’re trying to do in certain situations," said Peterson, who said his football IQ and overall knowledge of the game have improved as a result.

That will be put to the test in one of the most anticipated receiver-cornerback matchups of the season.

"He’s still a freak of nature," Peterson said of Jones. "The guy is unbelievable. He has very strong hands. To be that big and that strong and that fast, to have that total package as a receiver, for a (defensive back) that’s a nightmare.

"I definitely have my hands full. He’s an unbelievable competitor, and I know I’m going to get his best each and every time I go against him."