The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ playoff hopes are skating on thin ice right now. Their lead over the NFC South grows smaller and smaller with each win by their division rivals. Getting over .500 with a win over the Cincinnati Bengals would be great for them. However, that task has become much harder with WR Julio Jones being unlikely to play, per Ian Rapoport.

“While he may work out pre-game to see where it stands, the #Bucs are not expected to have WR Julio Jones today, source said. He’s been dealing with a knee issue and was listed as questionable after being limited all week.”

The Buccaneers have been ravaged with injuries all season long. From their offensive line to their receiving group to the defense, seemingly every Buc has had a trip to the injury list at some point this year. It’s almost a miracle that this team has not sunk to the lowest of lows yet. Julio Jones was one of the more frequent inclusions on the injury list this year.

Still, it would frankly be foolish to count out this Buccaneers team yet. Tom Brady has proven time and time again that he can defy the odds, especially if they’re stacked against him. All they need is one perfectly-timed hot streak to blow their way to the Super Bowl. The first step in doing that, though, is actually making it to the playoffs.

For them to do that, though, they’ll need to be healthy enough to compete with the Bengals, or the rest of their schedule for that matter. We’ll see if the Buccaneers will have Julio Jones ready for the final stretch of the season.