Tampa Bay Buccaneers' RB Ronald Jones 'Looked Great' in Practice, Arians Says
Tampa Bay Buccaneers' head coach Bruce Arians provided some positive news Friday regarding the status of running back Ronald Jones II for Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Jones has missed two straight games after fracturing his pinky finger and spending time on the team's reserve/COVID-19 list. Jones underwent surgery and had a pin inserted to repair his finger. After clearing COVID-19 protocols, Jones returned to practice this week.
"He’s looked great in practice," Arians said about Jones. "He’s catching the ball really OK with that thing on his hand, kind of like Chris [Godwin] did. It was a struggle at first, but he’s getting better at it."
Jones was a full participant on Thursday, according to the team's injury report. Arians explained how important it is for Jones to see in-game reps ahead of the postseason.
“We need to get him going," Arians said. "It was a struggle at first, but he’s getting better at it. We need his explosiveness out there and hopefully, we’ll get him a ton [of reps] this week.”
Jones is wearing a brace on his hand, similar to wide receiver Chris Godwin, who also suffered a fractured finger earlier in the season, but Arians said it shouldn't impact the running back as much.
“It’s totally different than Chris’. [Jones II] cannot extend his finger, so his fingers are rolled up in the cast so he basically has three fingers on his left hand," Arians said. "Chris can use, basically, the other two sticking out. It was a struggle at first, but he’s getting used to it. He’s primarily a right-handed ball [carrier], so that’s not a big thing as far as running the ball.”
Prior to his finger injury and being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, Jones was third in the NFL with 900 rushing yards. While averaging 5.0 yards per run, Jones had rushed for six touchdowns and added 28 catches for 165 yards.
Arians said Jones’s conditioning for Sunday’s game should be fine, despite missing two straight games.
“He can handle it," Arians said about a full workload for Jones. "He’s in great shape and he didn’t really have any trouble with the [cardio] work up after the COVID test. He’s in good, good shape and ready to roll.”
In his absence, Leonard Fournette served as the team's starting running back with Ke'Shawn Vaughn serving as the second back. Fournette carried the ball 23 times for 83 yards and three touchdowns over the course of the last two games, while Vaughn rushed for 68 yards on 17 carries in the past two weeks.
