The Bucs Training Camp Diaries are an annual feature on PewterReport.com and we have two gems this year in veteran nose tackle Beau Allen, who will give PewterReport.com readers insight into the Bucs defense during training camp and the preseason, and rookie running back Ronald Jones II, Tampa Bay’s second-round pick, who will offer his perspective on the offensive side of the ball.

Jones is battling Peyton Barber for the right to become a starter during his rookie season. With breakaway speed and electric acceleration, Jones brings a different dimension that Tampa Bay’s offense has lacked for quite some time. Because both Barber and Jones will play in the Bucs’ “Bash and Dash” backfield, the rookie from USC will need to prove in camp and the preseason that he’s mastered the playbook and can handle a sizeable workload during the regular season. In his three years with the Trojans, Jones rushed for 3,619 yards and 39 touchdowns while averaging 6.1 yards per carry. During his junior year, Jones had a breakout season, rushing for a career-high 1,550 yards and 19 touchdowns while averaging 5.9 yards per carry.

The biggest area in which Jones needs to grow is in the passing game. The USC product had just 32 catches for 302 yards and three touchdowns in his three years with the Trojans. Jones had a career-high 14 catches for 187 yards and one touchdown as a junior, but clearly needs more work as a receiver and pass protector because he wasn’t asked to play a large role in the passing game while at USC. That will be a big point of emphasis for Jones in August.

I Can’t Fumble, I Can’t Do That Anymore
As told to Mark Cook

I’m getting more and more used to the heat. The heat is different here in Florida. You definitely have to come out every day and stay hydrated because you’ll cramp up or won’t make it through the whole practice, so hydration and recovery is key. I spent time in Houston before camp training and it is hot there, but again, this is a different type of heat than California and even in Texas.

Peyton Barber has told me that and tells me how important it is to keep your body right in the NFL. Even take treatment when you aren’t necessarily injured. That prevents you from getting injured. All the running backs have been great. We’ve definitely been able to bond. We’re cracking jokes when the time is right, and when I’m on the field I’m constantly asking them, ‘What do I have if a guy does this?’ or ‘What if this happens?’ They’re just helping me get ready for any situation on the field and I really appreciate them and look up to those guys.

RB Ronald Jones – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

The time zone thing is another your body has to get used to. And I don’t know if my body is used to that yet! Because I went back to L.A. for that week, and then back to Texas for the other week, but that’s only an hour ahead. Practicing that early, you have to wake up early and get good sleep the night before. Practice is here at 8:45 a.m. – but that’s 5:45 a.m. California time and it’s been a big adjustment for me.

I had a fumble early in today’s (Sunday) practice, which isn’t how you want to start the first day of practice in pads. I’ll have to look back at it on film but obviously I have to hang on to the ball. I was being to lackadaisical, stopping on first contact and I can’t do that, so it’s going to cost me and it’s going to cost the team. I can’t fumble – I can’t do that anymore.

I’m just taking it all in. The speed of the game is very fast and everyone knows what they’re doing out there so I have to get on the same page and same level as them so I don’t look like a rookie. I’m just trying to get there.

Bucs RB Ronald Jones II – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Some people have asked who I look up to in the league recently and kind of compare my style to. Probably Jamaal Charles is the one I would say. I watched a lot of his tape growing up. Chris Johnson was also one of my favorites. I try to take a little bit from LeSean McCoy too, and all the other great backs in the league. I just try to take some of their game and put it in mine. It’s a work in progress.

Some might say I am not a good receiver out of the backfield, but it doesn’t bother me. I don’t agree with it, but you always want to make your weaknesses your strengths. So when they say things like that I take it with a grain of salt and I know what I have to improve on personally. There are lots of things I still want to get better at, but my low career reception numbers in college was kind of based based on the offense and how we did things out there. But I can catch the ball when the time is right.

The Bucs fans have been great, and today having so many people out here watching us in camp was fun. I just want to tell them thank you for standing out in the heat with us. It was hot today for sure. They motivate us when they’re clapping as we’re scoring and breaking long runs and things like that. Just stick with us this year Bucs fans, because we have a plan in place to win and we have to just go execute.

Follow Bucs rookie running back Ronald Jones on Twitter at @RoJo

The next RoJo Bucs Training Camp Diary will be posted in a few days as well as regular Beau Allen Bucs Training Camp Diaries. Be sure to visit PewterReport.com multiple times throughout the day during training camp for new stories and updates from practice live from One Buccaneer Place, and follow us on Twitter at @PewterReport.