Julio Jones News

Jones finished second in receptions, receiving yards and targets on the night for the Buccaneers, with the highlight of his performance a 30-yard touchdown grab down the left sideline on the final play of the third quarter. The solid season-ending effort was a encouraging cap on a mostly quiet 2022 campaign for Jones in which he struggled with his nagging knee issues and totaled 24 receptions for 299 yards and two touchdowns on 42 targets across 10 games while adding 45 rushing yards on five attempts. Jones will head back into the open market in mid-March at age 34 and with three consecutive injury-shortened seasons in tow, giving him a very modest outlook in terms of his next opportunity.

Jones has dealt with knee issues for most the campaign and was inactive Week 18, marking his seventh absence overall. However, now that he's managed to log every practice rep Thursday, he's seemingly in the clear for Monday's matchup with the Cowboys. Mike Evans (illness) also was a full participant to begin prep for the wild-card round, so Jones will be the Buccaneers' third wide receiver, at best, behind Evans and Chris Godwin.

Regardless of what happens Week 18, the Buccaneers are locked in as the NFC's No. 4 seed in the playoffs, so it's not especially surprising that Tampa Bay won't take any chances with Jones in what amounts to a mostly meaningless regular-season finale. Jones, who managed just one limited practice this week due to the knee injury and illness, should be ready to go for the wild-card round of the postseason, though he may find himself fourth in the pecking order at receiver behind Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Russell Gage.

Jones played less than 30 percent of offensive snaps the past two weeks as the No. 4 receiver, but a larger role isn't entirely out of the question if he's able to play, as the Bucs are locked into the NFC's fourth seed for the postseason and may rest starters. Of course, Jones may be one of the guys held out ahead of the 1:00 p.m. ET kickoff, especially now that he's dealing with an illness in addition to the lingering PCL injury in his knee. He does seem likely to be ready for the wild-card round, if nothing else.

Jones has thus opened Week 18 prep with two straight absences from practice, so he'll likely need to get back on the field in some capacity Friday to put himself in position to play Sunday against the Falcons. With the Buccaneers having already secured the NFC's No. 4 seed with no possibility of moving up or down in the standings regardless of how Week 18 transpires, veterans like Jones may hold only limited roles if active Sunday with the likelihood that head coach Todd Bowles prioritizes the health of key players heading into the playoffs above all else.

Jones was merely Tampa's No. 4 receiver the past two weeks, falling behind Russell Gage on the depth chart, and the 33-year-old doesn't figure to play many snaps (if any) in a Week 18 game with no playoff implications at Atlanta. It is possible Jones returns to the No. 3 WR role for the playoffs if his balky knee improves, though Gage may have locked it down with 16 catches for 157 yards and two TDs over the past three games (including a contest Jones missed Week 15).