The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have activated running back Ronald Jones II from the reserve/COVID-19 list, clearing him for a possible return to action in Sunday's regular season finale against Atlanta. The Buccaneers currently have no players on the COVID list.
Jones was originally placed on that list on December 16 and has missed the Buccaneers' last two games. He can rejoin the team on the practice field on Wednesday but will then have to show that he can play with the fractured finger he sustained in the Week 13 win over Minnesota, which required surgery to insert pins into the digit.
On Monday, Head Coach Bruce Arians expressed hope that Jones would be available for Sunday's game but said the team would be cautious.
"Hopefully he's clearing the COVID [protocols] and we can get him into the building to look at him and see if he can play with [his injury]," said Arians. "I've got my fingers crossed that we can get him a bunch of game action this week, but I'm not going to risk it [if he is] not able to protect himself."
Jones leads the Buccaneers in rushing with 900 yards and still has a chance to record his first 1,000-yard season and the first by a Tampa Bay back since Doug Martin in 2015. Jones has scored six rushing touchdowns, is averaging 5.0 yards per carry and has also caught 28 passes for 165 yards. Leonard Fournette started in place of Jones the last two games and recorded 83 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries, plus six catches for 48 yards.
