Ronald Jones Will Be Active And In The Running Backs Rotation On Sunday
December 1st, 2018
If rookie running back Ronald Jones can make his mark over the final five games, as Vita Vea surges and Jordan Whitehead keeps looking like a quality safety, the Jason Licht bashers might have to find a new punching bag.
Jones has accomplished little this season following a terrible preseason. He made a couple of impressive play but spent more time looking tentative and unimpressive — and then he got hurt.
Now he’s back. Jones be in uniform Sunday and will be in the running backs rotation, Dirk Koetter declared on the Buccaneers Radio network yesterday.
Koetter said Jones will have to earn his touches, “That starts at practice, No. 1, and then when you get opportunities in the game, you have to make the most of it.”
Regardless, Jones is back in the mix, hoping to add to his season totals of 19 carries for 42 yards and a touchdown, plus six receptions for 34 yards.
Somewhere, Licht has to be nodding his head.
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December 1st, 2018 at 10:44 am
Good news but if this OL doesn’t open up some lanes he isn’t going to do much. Maybe he can make an impact in the pass game.
December 1st, 2018 at 10:44 am
maybe he can have his coming out party like the defense did last week….guy has been a successful running back his whole life…
December 1st, 2018 at 10:45 am
Looks like my Jim Beam bottle is going to be active this Sunday too.
December 1st, 2018 at 10:52 am
Should the fans have been worried when he was 28 rushes on 22 carries in the preseason and didn’t dress for the first three games sucking when he did come back? You know, like most RBs you take at the top of the second round do.
December 1st, 2018 at 10:54 am
All they gotta do is let him punch it up the gut, that’s what PB does so well.
December 1st, 2018 at 10:59 am
A couple of swing passes out on the perimeter might be fun to watch.
Add some misdirection.
December 1st, 2018 at 11:05 am
LIcht should be out no matter what. Several bad drafts, dumb second round picks that can’t even crack an NFL line up. One game out of Vea against bad team is hardly a reason to celebrate. We’ve got second and third rounders who struggle to get active on game day.
December 1st, 2018 at 11:06 am
I am anxious to give him another shot at it. Hoping we can see something.
December 1st, 2018 at 11:08 am
By now he should at least know the plays. Good luck to him.
December 1st, 2018 at 11:14 am
another position group this organization has failed to develop or accurately scout.
December 1st, 2018 at 11:35 am
We need to play to his speed. Let’s see if Dirk can use him and Barber as a speed-power combo, and actually play to their strengths.
December 1st, 2018 at 11:51 am
whitehead is best thing going for licht right now with this draft class. i think carlton davis is the better player now and for the future but whitehead is playing at a level where you can say “yea derwin james would be damn nice but whitehead in the 4th was a steal” of course vea has to turn into a good player for any of this to matter but i do believe with the last 2 drafts licht has flipped the perception of the def backfield where there was little to no hope for them to be good in the future now you have pieces in justin evans , davis and whitehead that you can build around while still having young talented players like vhiii and stewart available. good job by licht now just get them some real coaching back there and watch the transformation
December 1st, 2018 at 11:53 am
WOWZER..Finally..A quest cameo appearance from our 2nd rd running back draft pick. Say it ain’t so. Break out the confetti.
December 1st, 2018 at 11:53 am
It’s about time!!! What is there to lose? Let him play in order to find out what you have going forward. This season is over. time to build for next season and the draft, hopefully with a new coach and someone who can evaluate and develop young talent and free agents.
December 1st, 2018 at 11:56 am
anyone calling this guy a bust is just flat out wrong the guy has talent we can all see it they just don’t know how to create opportunities for him like good coaching staffs do (see kamara w saints, coleman w falcons & cohen with bears) his problem right now is he is running behind a poor run blocking o line and he isn’t able to create on his own to the ability a guy like peyton barber can. so really what is happening is barber is making a bad o line look better and the o line is making a talented rb (jones) look terrible. to label a guy a bust after just a handful of games is idiotic and hope most of you can be smarter than that. jones and barber have real potential to be a lethal combo in coming years with the promise barber has shown this season.
December 1st, 2018 at 12:16 pm
Should throw Cappa out there too. We may have a starter and depth at the RG position. One less thing to worry about in the off season.
December 1st, 2018 at 12:18 pm
Find some creative ways to get ROJO the ball in space coach!
Pretend he’s Charles Sims…
December 1st, 2018 at 12:35 pm
I hope he doesn’t take touches away from Barber. I need 2 TD’s by Barber in the next 5 games and don’t need the rookie stealing his chances inside the redzone.
December 1st, 2018 at 12:40 pm
Big mistake. I’m a Licht basher & will continue to be till he’s gone.
December 1st, 2018 at 12:42 pm
Liedtke should play RG and Cappa at RT
December 1st, 2018 at 12:50 pm
^^^
These are their original positions from college. Put them back where they are comfortable. Why Koetter insist on trying to plug a square peg into a round hole all the time baffles the hell out of me. It’s like Licht looking for those homerun diamonds in the rough for the draft instead of selecting higher ranked all consensus talent.
December 1st, 2018 at 12:54 pm
We should get a dose of Vea, Jones, Cappa, Whitehead and Watson…..the jury is still out on this draft class…..it could turn out pretty good.
Carlton Davis looks like a keeper……and from the get-go I questioned the MJ Stewart pick……
Licht has a tendency to get cute with his 2nd round picks….not picking sure things…..I have no problem with his 1st rounders.
December 1st, 2018 at 1:17 pm
A breakout game would be most excellent.
December 1st, 2018 at 1:18 pm
@Pickgrin: Sims had excellent hands, almost like a WR. The knock on Jones, among others, is he is not a natural pass receiver.
December 1st, 2018 at 1:40 pm
Don’t have much hope that he can do much if Dirk is only going to use him for one series of just a few attempts.
Can’t expect much from a RB in this league if he is not given a chance to get any rythm going. Almost feels like he has to just get lucky and have a garage door-sized hole to run through. Otherwise his chances of making a impact and next to no.
December 1st, 2018 at 1:48 pm
You have to give these guys a year to adjust. Admittedly, what we have seen thus far has not been impressive. However, I haven’t seen much opportunity provided by this line either.
December 1st, 2018 at 1:52 pm
The Panthers defense will try to intimidate jones with smash mouth football. Our coaches r paid to prep players for each opponent. We should come out with every trick play imaginable. Let’s try an onside kick first quarter. Rojo should know how to hold on to the ball by now so y not put him in open space one on one wide with a lil creativity. When Demar Dotson returns, put him in as an extra tightend inside the 10 yard line for a one on one jump ball. He’s an ex basketball player, he knows how to box out. These are some of the creative ways Sean Payton would use players to maximize their skill set. But then again, as it pertain to coaching, we r talking apples n oranges.
December 1st, 2018 at 2:52 pm
I wonder if the panthers will even show up now with this news
December 1st, 2018 at 3:49 pm
With Dotson out, I don’t expect much running to his side of the ball…
I hope the Bucs don’t run that pathetic zone sweep. That has yet to work. How about some mano-y-mano quick hitters…
December 1st, 2018 at 3:56 pm
Bucs dropped Dare who played Special Teams. Moved up Bono to replace Dare and plays STs. Rojo is the 3rd RB and they don’t need him to play STs because he doesn’t.
December 1st, 2018 at 4:10 pm
let’s go rojo…
no more no go…
December 1st, 2018 at 4:12 pm
I still think Shaun Wilson had earned more looks then we have given him. I want that guy to stay a Buccaneer after the season and after we dump the coach along with the rest of the dead weight.
December 1st, 2018 at 4:27 pm
i have seen enough no show jones, B-U-S-T = buc until specified time. and then bye bye, this here’s the big show, the NFL separates the men from the boys, and he ain’t got it, and imho never will
December 1st, 2018 at 4:50 pm
@JimmyJack: Shaun Wilson is on IR.
December 1st, 2018 at 5:44 pm
Hmm how many Panther fans were calling McCaffrey a bust last year?
He still got a ton of playing time and that probably helped him this year along with 80 receptions. Last year he avg 7 carries for 3.7 ypc.
Rojo has it in him, watch his tape. He breaks arm tackles, runs fast, uses his blockers, and runs violently his last year.
Dirk always talks up experience for players yet he calls his 2nd round pick a change of pace back who will get a few touches, WT actual F!?
Give this guy the rock and let him shake off these rookie jitters.
Just because some players ball as rookies doesn’t mean every baller will. Just saying, hold off on the BUST labels. If you are putting blame for this team on Koetter, how can you blame the players that play under him? Much less the rookies?
December 1st, 2018 at 5:44 pm
We got barber who cares about Rojo???
Just tell the offensive line to open up some holes
December 1st, 2018 at 7:49 pm
Soft Coach, Soft practices, Soft team.
December 1st, 2018 at 8:58 pm
Jones isn’t grasping his responsibilities and understanding of schemes….A second round RB is expected to contribute at a minimum on special teams, he doesn’t even do that.
December 1st, 2018 at 9:40 pm
Jones imo is scared to death out there. He wants no part of any contact. Good college back but a busted pick for the Bucs.
December 1st, 2018 at 10:07 pm
The dude has had 19 carries. I can give a crap less why Dirk don’t wanna use him. This is the same guy who wouldn’t use Barber last year. I don’t trust that Dirk is making the right decision with his RBs.
Personal decision isn’t Dirk’s thang. He got a long history of botched decisions at most positions.
December 1st, 2018 at 10:10 pm
The only position group Dirk has been able to handles has been the TE position.
Dirk has made poor personal decision in any other positions group.
December 1st, 2018 at 11:19 pm
Bobby,
How do you this about Jones?
Seems like a statement of fact rather than speculation. So enlighten us to what specifically is Rojo not grasping? Scheme isn’t an answer.
December 2nd, 2018 at 12:31 am
Who cares They can’t run the ball because there playing behind so much that they become one dimensional
December 2nd, 2018 at 2:14 am
We gotta put in a waiver claim for Kareem hunt!! Everyone seems to believe he will get a 2nd chance so why not? At worst we can trade him after the suspension. C’mon bucs get him!!!!
December 2nd, 2018 at 8:14 am
I don’t know why they don’t use Ronald Jones more like Kamara. Also it always seems like both sides of the ball are in defend mode rather than attack.mode. The execution of plays is based on what the opponent does rather than taking what we do to the opponent. Ronald Jones isn’t a bust he’s being poorly coached and handled.
I’ve been saying all along Jason Licht doesn’t have as many bad picks and deals as it looks like. He can only bring the players in he can’t coach them and motivate them to play hard on game day.
December 2nd, 2018 at 9:38 am
I’ve believed in Whitehead and Vea from the beginning but I think Ronald Jones is not built strong enough for this league. I hope I am wrong.