Getty Leonard Fournette #7 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers runs with the ball against the Buffalo Bills during the fourth quarter at Raymond James Stadium on December 12, 2021.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians indicated that Leonard Fournette’s status against the Los Angeles Rams is uncertain, but the star running back may have just dropped a hint. Fournette took to Twitter to celebrate his birthday and appeared to indicate that he would be suiting up for the Divisional Round matchup. Fournette ended his message by adding, “I will see you [guys] Sunday.”
“Appreciate all the birthday luv, man only if y’all knew the roads I had to take to get here,” Fournette said in the heartfelt Twitter message posted on January 18. “All the people I lost in my [life] that can’t experience everything with me Thank Y’all and I WILL SEE YOU GUY SUNDAY.”
Here is a look at Fournette’s tweet that has since gone viral.
Appreciate all the birthday luv, man only if y’all knew the roads I had to take to get here, all the people I lost in my that can’t experience everything with me Thank Y’all and I WILL SEE YOU GUY SUNDAY
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The Bucs Top 2 Running Backs Are Dealing With Injuries
Bucs running back Leonard @_fournette taking the practice field and warming up. Yesterday was a walk-through so today is really Bruce Arians’ first day to get a solid look at players coming off injuries. Hamstring doesn’t look to be an issue, but this is obviously just a warmup.
Fournette has been sidelined for the last four games as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury. The Buccaneers were without their top two backs against the Eagles as Ronald Jones is also dealing with an injury.
“We’re going to wait and see if ‘Lenny’ can open up full speed,” Arians said during his January 17 press conference, per Buccaneers.com. “‘RoJo’ still isn’t cutting, so we’ll know more by Thursday on both of those guys.”
After the Bucs’ win over the Eagles, Arians detailed what the team needed to see from Fournette for him to be active on game day.
“Wait and see when he can hit top speed, and he tried to hit top speed a couple of times,” Arians noted during his January 16 press conference. “And he could feel it and until he’s full speed we’re not going to use him.”
Arians on Vaughn: ‘He Played His A** off’
The Bucs (-7.5) are having their way with the Eagles to start todays game as they build a 14-0 1st Quarter lead following this touchdown run from KeShawn Vaughn.
The rash of injuries has led to the emergence of second-year running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn. The rusher notched 17 carries for 53 yards and a touchdown in the team’s win over the Eagles. Arians gushed about Vaughn’s potential after the Buccaneers advanced to the Divisional Round.
“He played his a** off, I mean, Ke’Shawn can run, man, and he can catch and he’s a damn good back,” Arians added. “And he’s making the best of his opportunities, and we’re very, very confident in him.”
The Bucs Are a 3-Point Favorite vs. Rams
“The Rams remind me a lot of who the Buccaneers were last year.. Sean McVay has done a great job of getting back to what really made this Rams team good” ~@danorlovsky7
The Buccaneers finally know their opponent after the Rams’ dominant win over the Cardinals. Tampa Bay is a three-point home favorite against Los Angeles, per FanDuel.
Heading into the Cardinals-Rams game, Arians noted that he was not rooting for a particular opponent but admitted it would be challenging if he had to face his former team.
“That’s hard, man and be harder playing them [Cardinals], because I do have so many good friends out there, and I never like playing against friends,” Arians told reporters on January 17. “But yeah, I mean, I’m not rooting for anybody. I just want to find out who the heck we’re playing. We know when and where, so let’s get it on.”