When Tom Brady takes the field Sunday for his first game in Los Angeles, he'll be leaning on L.A. Lenny out of the backfield.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will start Leonard Fournette at running back against the Rams, relegating Ronald Jones to a backup role, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Sunday on NFL GameDay Morning.
Fournette started Tampa Bay's season-opening win, while Jones started the Bucs' Week 2 triumph. The playoff hero Fournette, who carried Tampa Bay's road warriors en route to a Super Bowl LV victory, will get the start in Tampa Bay's first road contest of the year.
"This is all because Ronald Jones had a frustrating couple of weeks," Rapoport said of the switch, "including one play last week that drew the ire of the coaches when he went out of bounds right before the first-down marker."
So far this campaign, Fournette has logged 72 snaps to Jones' 29; third-down back and newcomer Giovani Bernard has 23 offensive snaps to his name in 2021.
Fournette has a team-high 29 touches this season for 135 yards; Jones has 11 for 50. Both backs have fumbled, and neither has scored a touchdown.
The Rams have allowed over 100 yards on the ground in back-to-back weeks, with Chicago Bears runner David Montgomery gashing L.A. for 108 in its most recent home game.
Tampa Bay hopes Fournette, in line for the bulk of carries, can enjoy a similar afternoon in Sunday's battle of the unbeatens.
