Getty Tom Brady celebrates a touchdown with Ronald Jones II in 2020.
Ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Ronald Jones II, now with the Dallas Cowboys, took to social media after his recent suspension hit the news.
ESPN’s Ed Werder broke the news of Jones’ suspension by the NFL. Jones played for the Bucs from 2018 to 2021 before he spent 2022 with the Kansas City Chiefs.
“I love this game and would never cheat it. I would never knowingly take a banned substance. I will continue to work with my team to investigate how this happened so that it never happens again,” Jones tweeted.
Tampa Bay selected Jones with a second round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He had a quiet rookie year with 44 yards and a touchdown in nine games, but Jones picked things up in 2019 with 724 yards and six touchdowns on 172 carries.
Jones led the Bucs in rushing in 2020 with 978 yards and seven touchdowns on 192 carries. He helped the Bucs win the Super Bowl that season, but his career regressed after that point.
Fellow former Bucs running back Leonard Fournette beat him out for the starting job in 2021, and Jones mustered 428 yards and four touchdowns on 101 attempts. He didn’t even find a similar role in Kansas City where he only managed 70 yards and a touchdown in six games played.
Jones signed with the Cowboys in the offseason for one year at $1.2 million. His suspension, which takes effect in September, could impact his chances of making the final 53-man roster.
Dallas made significant changes to its backfield this offseason with the release of Ezekiel Elliott and additions of Jones and rookie Deuce Vaughn.
Bucs Running Game Changed Drastically After Ronald Jones II Departure
Tampa Bay’s running game went downhill in 2022 without Jones to compliment Fournette — albeit offensive line injuries played a major role, too. The Bucs turned to 2022 third-round pick Rachaad White to step up, and he eventually started ahead of Fournette in the second half of the season.
Then, the Bucs released Fournette in the offseason, and he has yet to sign with a team. Tampa Bay meanwhile added Chase Edmonds in free agency along with undrafted free agents Sean Tucker and Ronnie Brown.
That left Ke’Shawn Vaughn as the only Bucs running back left from the 2020 Super Bowl team. LeSean McCoy retired in 2021, and Kenjon Barner got released in October 2022.
LeSean McCoy Recalls Time With Bucs Fondly
McCoy recently recounted his time with the Bucs and the Super Bowl run in 2020 during the “Pardon My Take” show. An 11-year veteran at that point, McCoy considered his one-year stint with the Bucs as worthwhile.
“It did. I wanted to come back, I wanted to get 12,000 [rushing] yards. I think I had Patriots, Jets, Raiders and some other team that wasn’t that good that wanted me,” McCoy told the “Pardon My Take” hosts. “I was like, man, I’m gonna go there, none of the teams were really good teams. And if I’m going just to get stats, I’m going to be the backup. So I’m not gonna get a lot of carries. So I’m gonna add onto the yardage, but am I going to have fun compared to being with the Bucs?”
“I didn’t play a lot, but it was a fun team. It was an older team, we all got along and we were going for a championship, where the other teams weren’t. So the yardage, I had the 15,000, and all the other accolades, so I said I’m just gonna retire. I had some TV stuff going on anyway, so I just said I’m good. I’m retired,” McCoy added.