Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Ronald Jones Named Ground Player of the Week
To little surprise, Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Ronald Jones has been named Week 10's FedEx Ground Player of the Week, the NFL announced Wednesday.
Jones averaged 8.35 yards per rush this past Sunday as the Bucs ran all over the Carolina Panthers in route to a 46-23 victory. His 98-yard touchdown in the third quarter marked the longest offensive play in Tampa Bay history.
“The credit goes to him," Bucs' running back coach Todd McNair said Wednesday. "He’s really matured since last year when we first came in. He’s shown a lot of maturity [and] a lot of growth."
Jones finished the afternoon with 192 rushing yards, the fifth-most in a single game in Buccaneers history. McNair believes the best is still ahead for Jones.
"People forget how young he was, even coming in last year," McNair said about Jones. "He hadn’t really played the year before, so he was like a rookie and he’s rookie age. So, a year in the system and I think the offensive coaches sticking with him [and] giving him a lot of positive reinforcement – I think he’s just blossomed and his ceiling is still high. He’s got a long way to go still.”
Jones joins LeGarrette Blount, Doug Martin, and Bobby Rainey as the four Tampa Bay running backs to be named FedEx Ground Player of the Week. With Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady winning FedEx Air Player of the Week in Week 4, 2020 marks the first time since 2015 in which Tampa Bay had both a FedEx Air and Ground Player of the Week in the same season.
McNair explained that Jones has a "more solid understanding" of what the Buc are trying to do in their run attack from a schematic point of view.
Through Week 10, Jones ranks second in the NFL with his 5.1 rushing yards per attempt, among players with at least 100 rushes. He also ranks third in rushing yards (730), third in rush yards after contact (462), and fifth in scrimmage yards (854).
"He’s got a tremendous amount of ability and it’s coming out," McNair said. "I don’t even think ‘Ro’ understands how good he could be. He does stuff by accident and it’s like, ‘Woah.’ He probably can’t tell you what he did when he gets back to the sideline [but] he’s got a tremendous amount of ability in his body.
Jones and the Bucs look to continue to have success running the ball when the Los Angeles Rams come to town on Monday night. However, the Rams, much like Tampa Bay, have a strong rush defense.
“The players," Bucs' head coach Bruce Arians said Monday about what concerns him the most about the Rams' defense. "The players haven’t changed much [but] the scheme is totally different. You’ve still got [Michael] Brockers, Aaron Donald, and all those guys."
Kickoff between Los Angeles and Tampa Bay is set for 8:15 p.m. on ESPN.
