Julio Jones' knee injury has Buccaneers playing 'long game', per Tampa Bay GM
Julio Jones signed a 1-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the offseason. The 33-year-old, an Alabama great before establishing himself as one of the NFL’s top wide receivers, saw his time with the Atlanta Falcons end with a trade to the Tennessee Titans. With his best years behind him due to injury, he joined Tom Brady and the Bucs in hopes of claiming a long-awaited Super Bowl ring.
Unfortunately for Jones, his injury history has followed him to the Sunshine State: he’s only played in 2 games this season, making 4 catches for 76 yards. That said, the Bucs feel that limiting his action with an eye toward having him fully healthy for a possible playoff run is worth it at this point.
“We’re playing the long game here a little bit,” general manager Jason Licht said, according to JoeBucsFan.com.
Head coach Todd Bowles stated that the team would be leaning on its depth as it handles Jones’ knee injury.
“Just like Jason said, we want him fully healthy and not coming out for a week and then missing another couple [of] weeks. We think we’ve got enough guys right now to weather that storm,” he said, according to Pro Football Talk.
The Buccaneers are at the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, a 1 p.m. ET kickoff on FOX.