Buccaneers running back Ronald Jones has to improve his pass protection.
After Jones got benched for fumbling during Tampa Bay’s season opener against Dallas, Jones got taken off the field for missing a block that led to a Falcons sack on Tom Brady.
According to head coach Bruce Arians, that’s got to change for Jones to be on the field consistently.
“Yeah, it speaks for itself, you know?” Arians said Monday, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “Ro, that’s his guy. He’s got to get out of those type of situations. I thought he ran hard and protected the ball. But again, you can’t have those mental errors.”
Arians noted he expects more from Jones, as he’s been in the system since Arians arrived in 2019.
“This is his third year [in the offense], man, it shouldn’t be a problem,” Arians said. “And at times it is. It’s just attention to detail like missing that blitz. But he is a great runner. Caught the ball well. I would like to see him run for the first down. But yeah, I mean his mind is fine, it’s just his play isn’t as good as it should be.”
In the final year of his rookie deal, Jones had 27 yards on six carries plus a catch for 9 yards in Sunday’s game. Leonard Fournette, however, rushed 11 times for 52 yards and caught four passes for 24 yards.
The Buccaneers travel to Los Angeles to play the Rams in Week Three.