The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will not have running back Leonard Fournette in the lineup when they take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday's Wild Card game. Fournette hasn't played since a Week 15 loss to the New Orleans Saints due to a hamstring injury.
While there was initially hope that Fournette would be ready for the playoffs after going on injured reserve, he wasn't activated in time. Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians explained Sunday why Fournette isn't playing:
Just spoke w/Bruce Arians about Leonard Fournette and why he won’t return today:
“It’s just a little tweak (hamstring). He wasn’t full Speed when he really opened up And tried to push off a couple times. It caught him, So we’re just going to be very cautious with him.” #GoBucs— Sara Walsh (@Sara_Walsh) January 16, 2022
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Tampa Bay will also be without Ronald Jones due to an ankle injury, so Ke'Shawn Vaughn, Le'Veon Bell and Giovani Bernard will share the load in the backfield against Philadelphia.
Tom Brady's Buccaneers offense won't have Chris Godwin available either because of his torn ACL, which also happened during that ugly loss to the Saints. These injuries and the Antonio Brown mess will make it a bit more difficult for Tampa Bay as Brady and Co. try to repeat as Super Bowl champions, but this is still a loaded roster that could win it all again.
The Buccaneers went 13-4 this season to handily win the NFC South, with the Saints finishing in second place with a 9-8 record. Fournette led Tampa Bay in rushing, carrying the ball 180 times for 812 yards and eight touchdowns.
The Eagles went 9-8 to sneak in the playoffs.
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