Ronald Jones named Buccaneers starter versus Falcons

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Ronald Jones will start Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons, head coach Bruce Arians announced.

What It Means:

Jones rushed 4 times for 14 yards in the Buccaneers' Week 1 win over the Dallas Cowboys before being benched for a second quarter fumble and not returning. Arians said that Jones "struggled mentally" to "get over" the lost fumble, but Leonard Fournette apparently didn't do enough to take the starting job away from Jones. The Falcons allowed the second-most rushing yards (173) in the league in Week 1.

The Falcons allowed the fourth-most Rushing Net Expected Points per carry in Week 1. Jones averaged -1.08 Rushing NEP per carry on his limited workload, while Fournette registered 0.08 Rushing NEP per carry on nine carries.