TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette won't play Sunday when the defending Super Bowl champions host the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL Wild Card Round to begin the postseason.
On Saturday, the Bucs activated running back Giovani Bernard and linebacker Lavonte David off the Injured Reserve list. While it technically remains a question whether either will play Sunday, their activations were nonetheless noteworthy. Noticeably absent from the list of activations was Fournette, who continues to nurse a hamstring issue.
"So Bucs are without their top two backs Sunday in Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones," writes The Athletic's Greg Auman. "They’ll go with Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Gio Bernard and Le’Veon Bell against the Eagles."
If Bernard plays as Auman expects, it will mark his first time in a game since a hip/knee injury sidelined him in mid-December. Tampa Bay is also elevating running back Kenjon Barner from the practice squad, giving the franchise another option in that position.
Fournette, 26, has strong ties to Florida. The Jacksonville Jaguars originally picked up the LSU alum as the fourth overall pick in 2017's NFL Draft.
