Bucs coach Bruce Arians calls out Ronald Jones for ‘struggling’ after fumble

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians points to Ronald Jones’ struggles to move past fumble. 

A pivotal moment in last night’s game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys was in the second quarter, when Bucs running back Ronald Jones lost a fumble. The Cowboys scored five plays later to bring the score within one and Jones watched the rest of the game from the sideline.

Arians says the lack of playing time was due to Jones’ inability to move past the fumble:

Leonard Fournette and Giovani Bernard would split the rest of the reps at running back, with Fournette taking the majority.

Bucs: Leonard Fournette moves past his own costly mistake

Fournette had his own costly mistake the next offensive play after Jones’ fumble, when he let an intended screen pass go through his hands for an interception. That led to the Cowboys taking a 16-14 lead.

Fournette, however, was able to put it behind him as he would stay in the game and make some pivotal plays that ultimately led to the Buccaneers win — none more important than when he snatched an ill-advised pass by Brady out of the hands of Cowboys rookie linebacker Micah Parsons.

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Fournette’s mentality to move forward must’ve been what Arians wanted to see out of Jones. Jones didn’t get the opportunity to redeem himself last night, but he will next Sunday when the Buccaneers host the Atlanta Falcons.