The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are signing running back Jacquizz Rodgers, according to Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times. An ACL tear will end his season, as he has been placed on Injured Reserve. Rather than sign him and be on the hook for possible veteran termination pay, the team opted to promote Peyton Barber from the practice squad. It’s an underrated loss for the Bucs after Smith finished second on the team in sacks each of the past two seasons, totaling 13.5 of them over that span. Tampa Bay will move forward with DEs Robert Ayers, William Gholston, and Noah Spence. Sep.
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Now Rodgers gives that group an added dimension as a pass-catching change-of-pace back who could also help on kickoff return. Rodgers played sparingly as a backup with the Bears last season, but has 1,157 rushing yards and 1,114 receiving yards in his five National Football League seasons. The Bears brought him back this offseason, but he was released during final roster cuts and has not been picked up by anyone since. Rodgers has five scoring receptions. As a return man, he has averaged 23.8 yards per attempt on 50 kickoffs, with a long of 77 and a single-season high of 25.7 yards per runback in 2012.
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The 5-foot-6 Rodgers is viewed as a solid receiver coming out of the backfield and a very good blocker in passing situations.
