Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Ronald Jones will have surgery to insert a pin into his broken pinky finger. Per multiple reports, Jones, who suffered the injury during Tampa's Week 14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings, is set to have the surgery on Tuesday. According to The Athletic's Greg Auman, Jones' status for Week 15 against the Falcons is uncertain.
Jones has been the team's lead back on early downs throughout the season, receiving 180 carries for 900 yards and six touchdowns, each of which sets or ties a new career high. He has lost passing down work to Leonard Fournette for most of the season, but this past week LeSean McCoy played that role for much of the game. Jones is averaging just 3.9 yards per target, down considerably from the 7.7 he averaged last year.
With an 8-5 record, the Bucs sit two games back of the New Orleans Saints in the NFC South. Having lost both games to the Saints, however, they will need to go 3-0 while the Saints go 0-3 in order to win the division. Instead, the Bucs are likely in the mix for one of the three NFC wild card spots. With a two-game lead on teams like the Vikings and Bears, who currently occupy the No, 7 and 8 seeds in the conference, the Bucs do not need much more in order to clinch their own playoff berth.
Being without Jones -- if he has to miss time due to the injury and subsequent surgery, as teammate Chris Godwin did earlier this season -- obviously makes that a bit more difficult, but Tampa's remaining schedule sees the Bucs play at the Falcons, at the Lions, and home against the Falcons. They should have no problem securing at least a win or two and wrapping up a spot in the postseason, while also giving Jones ample time to get healthy for the playoff run.
