After a day where they had a light practice to try to make up for the lost rest day due playing on Monday Night Football, the Buccaneers were back out under the sun on the practice field in pads as they prepare for their matchup against the Chicago Bears.

But before they hit the field, some of the offensive catalysts for the team were up at the podium.

First up was offensive coordinator Todd Monken.

A big topic around many of the decision makers who were available today revolved around rookie running back Ronald Jones.

The Bucs currently have the lowest yards-per-attempt rushing average in the league, and, in theory, they drafted Jones to fix that. But the second round pick has yet to be active on game days.

There are a number of factors as to why Jones hasn’t been active. Some of it has to do with the numbers game of what each running back does best in different areas for the team.

But the fact of the matter is, as long as the Buccaneers’ rushing statistics are low, there will always be questions as to why Jones, the expected answer, is not being made able to help remedy that.

Monken was also, of course, asked about the starting quarterback position, mainly the debate between which player is going to start, Ryan Fitzpatrick or Jameis Winston.

Though the team already knows who the starter is going to be, they have not let the media know, and they likely won’t until game time.

Fitzpatrick also took to the podium after Monken and he, too, of course, was also asked about his position in all this quarterback chatter.

As one would naturally suspect with competitive people such as NFL players, Fitzpatrick was asked about his relationship with Winston through all this competition.

Fitzpatrick said that communication has always been key, and that though he has pride and a competitive nature, he doesn’t let that get in the way of hurting this team by potentially being a bad teammate.

Fitzpatrick also clarified that no matter what the decision was going to be — though they already know — that he trusts head coach Dirk Koetter 100 percent, and believe that he only has the best interest of the team getting wins as his motivation.

In the locker room, Buccaneers wide receiver DeSean Jackson said that he was glad to have Winston back out there throwing it around with them on the practice field.

Jackson has already stated that the decision for who will start is above his pay grade, but whoever is in there just needs to do their best to keep things rolling, as they have the No. 1 offense in the NFL.

Jackson was also asked about his expanded role in returning punts this season.

Jackson had a touchdown that was called back late in the game against the Steelers, which was unfortunate, but it showed the kind of talent he has when he fields punts, and he said showing off that talent is something he enjoys doing.

The Buccaneers offensive line struggled against the 3-4 defense that the Steelers brought into town, and the Bears run somewhat of a similar style of defensive front.

Bucs offensive tackle Donovan Smith was asked about the challenges they’ll face with the Bears on Sunday.

The Buccaneers currently have the No. 1 offense in the NFL in passing yards and yards per game.

One of the major players in that statistic is tight end O.J. Howard, who talked about the team’s hot offensive start.

After practice, head coach Dirk Koetter was also asked about the Ronald Jones situation.

Koetter said that due to Jones being lower on the depth chart, he is playing special teams, just in a different way than Shaun Wilson is.

As for Jones’ playing time in games, Koetter said “his day is coming.”

Koetter also updated on Vita Vea’s status, although it sounds like he’s still up in the air.