Tampa Bay Buccaneers DC Todd Bowles, RB Ronald Jones expected back Sunday
TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles is expected to return in time for Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons despite being deemed a close contact with someone outside the facility who tested positive for COVID-19.
That test is believed to be a false positive, Bowles has had no symptoms, and he has continued to test negative while working virtually from home.
“We totally anticipate him being back, hopefully tomorrow,” coach Bruce Arians said Friday. “But if not, Sunday for sure, we think. So, if not then [defensive line coach] Kacy [Rodgers] would call it. He’s done it before. He’s more than ready.”
Arians also said starting running back Ronald Jones, who was taken off the reserve/COVID-19 list this week, and practiced, will play.
Arians said Bowles’ absence hasn’t been too much of a disruption. Rodgers was Bowles’ defensive coordinator when he was head coach of the New York Jets from 2015 to 2018. They also were together for four seasons with the Miami Dolphins and three seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.
“Practice has run smooth, [Bowles has] handled everything, game-plan wise, with the guys, watching the film and things like that, so it hasn’t been as big of a deal as I thought it might be,” Arians said.
It’s also not the first time this season the Bucs have dealt with disruption due to a false positive. Two weeks ago, while they were preparing to face the Falcons, they were forced to put kicker Ryan Succop, punter Bradley Pinion and long-snapper Zach Triner on the reserve/COVID-19 list because of what was deemed a false positive. After missing two out of three practice days that week, they returned in time for Friday’s practice and all played in the Sunday game at Atlanta.
Arians also said that top cornerback Carlton Davis, who was limited Friday and missed last week’s win over the Detroit Lions with a groin injury, will be a “game-time decision,” as they’ve been taking things slowly with him.
Jones, who missed the past two games because of a fractured finger and being on the reserve/COVID-19 list, practiced this week with a brace on his hand.
“We need to get him going. It’s a totally different speed in practice,” Arians said of Jones, who needs exactly 100 yards Sunday to reach the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career. “He’s looked great in practice. He’s catching the ball really OK with that thing on his hand, kind of like [wide receiver] Chris [Godwin] did. It was a struggle at first but he’s getting better at it. We need his explosiveness out there, and hopefully we get him a ton this week.”
Godwin missed one game after having 10 pins inserted into his fractured index finger and played with a brace, while Jones had a pin inserted into a fractured pinkie.
The brace does not allow Jones to extend all his fingers — his fingers are rolled up in a cast — so he only has the use of three fingers on his hand. But it’s his left hand, and not the hand he uses primarily to carry the ball. The injury came while he was blocking.
“It was a struggle at first but he’s getting used to it,” Arians said. “He’s primarily a right-handed ball carrier, so it’s not a big thing as far as running the ball,” Arians said, adding that he’s not concerned about any drop in Jones’ conditioning or handling a normal workload.
“No, he’s in great shape,” Arians said. “He really didn’t have any trouble with the cardiac workup after the COVID tests so he’s in good, good shape and ready to roll.”