Rodgers is in line for an expanded role in Week 5 versus the Panthers, irrespective of whether Charles Sims is able to play with his knee injury, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com reports.
The veteran back has been more efficient than Sims on a per-carry basis to date, averaging 5.3 yards per tote over an admittedly limited sample of 13 touches. Rodgers has also shown a bit of a knack for "chunk" plays, ripping off a 24-yard scamper against the Cardinals in Week 2 and a 12-yard jaunt versus the Broncos in Week 4. He's also taken pretty quickly to the Bucs offensive system, given his past experience with head coach Dirk Koetter from their days together with the Falcons. The 26-year-old's excellent lateral quickness and low center of gravity have played a key part in him gaining first downs on 21.1 percent of his rushes in his career, as well in posting an average of 4.39 yards per carry on outside runs, which is notably better than Sims' 3.96 figure in the same category. With the Bucs ranking 24th in total rushing yards (330), 25th in rushing yards per game (82.5), and 28th in yards per carry (3.4), the team's head man appears ready to tweak the team's ground attack. "It is a true statement that we're not running the ball efficiently enough," Koetter said. "Maybe we have to go back and really look at fitting the roles into the players' specific strengths in the run game. But we definitely just can't keep doing the same stuff because that's not working."