The Tampa Bay Buccaneers earned an impressive 28-11 win Sunday on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars, giving them their first winning streak of the season.
The story of the day, of course, was the play of rookie linebacker Devin White, who helped the team jump out to an early 15-0 lead in the first quarter. But, one story that shouldn’t be overlooked is the second-half benching of running back Ronald Jones.
Jones, the second-year back out of USC who just last month earned the starting gig, was sent to the bench in the third quarter after failing to pick up a blitz, which resulted in a Jameis Winston sack and fumble.
Jones finished the day with just six carries for 8 yards. But, for those worried that Jones will be riding the bench going forward, head coach Bruce Arians talked about the young back’s strong work ethic, while also pointing out that if he wants to play, he’s got to protect the quarterback.
“[Jones] works his ass off. He’s gonna get better at it. We need him running the football. But you can’t run the football if you can’t protect the quarterback.”
Protection for Winston has been a problem all season long for the Buccaneers. Jones is still young, so hopefully he can use yesterday as a learning experience. If he works as hard as his coach says, I doubt anyone is more frustrated about what happened than Jones.
Tampa Bay returns home in Week 14 to face the Indianapolis Colts. With a win, the Bucs would not only make it three-straight victories, but they’d earn their sixth win of the season, surpassing their win totals from 2017 and 2018, when they finished 5-11 both times.
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