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Fournette was spotted during the portion of practice open to the
media on Thursday, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Backfield
mate Ronald Jones, who has missed the past two games with an
ankle injury, was out of his boot on Thursday but did not
practice.
Because he is still on IR, Fournette was not listed on the
official injury report. But offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich
sounded optimistic after practice that Fournette will be ready
to play for the first time since injuring his hamstring on Dec.
19.
"We're still using this week to see if he's healthy and how
healthy he is," Leftwich said. "It's really tough right now to
try and put a workload on him without really getting through the
end of the week.
"I'll have a better idea on what he can do as we get more
towards Friday. But right now, (it's) just good to see him out
there and trying to work his way back in to do what he's doing.
Once he's healthy, we'll expect Lenny to be Lenny."
Fournette led Tampa Bay in rushing with 812 yards and eight
touchdowns. He also caught 69 passes for 454 yards and two
touchdowns.
With Fournette and Jones sidelined last weekend against
Philadelphia, Ke'Shawn Vaughn and Giovani Bernard combined to
rush for 97 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 30 carries. But
Leftwich would love to get his workhorse back in time to face
the Rams.
"It's hard to do better from the running back position for us
and what we ask him to do," Leftwich said. "We ask him to catch
it, we ask him to run it and we ask him to pass protect.
"He's tough to get down on the ground. It's good to be able to
have a guy like that that can run it the way that he runs it and
catch it the way he can catch it, and play with the football IQ
that he has. Lenny is a unique guy."
The Bucs continue to have significant concerns along the
offensive line as center Ryan Jensen and right tackle Tristan
Wirfs did not practice for the second consecutive day as they
recover from ankle injuries. Backup tackle Josh Wells (quad) was
listed as a limited participant.
"They're a lot of tough dudes," guard Ali Marpet said of the
Bucs' offensive line. "I think at this point in the year in
order to play offensive line, you're always going to be dealing
with stuff."
--Field Level Media
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