Coach Bruce Arians said Vaughn is "more than ready" to join the Bucs' backfield mix with Leonard Fournette (ankle) ruled out for Sunday's game against the Chargers, Scott Smith of the Buccaneers' official site reports.
Fournette is averaging 8.0 carries and 2.7 targets per game on 30 percent snap share, albeit with a big chunk of his production coming in the fourth quarter of a Week 2 win over Carolina. Some of the vacated snaps and touches could go to Ronald Jones, but it sounds like the Bucs are prepping their rookie third-round pick for at least a small role in the Week 4 game plan. With a Thursday contest against the Bears on tap next week, Vaughn could have a couple chances to fill in for Fournette in the Tampa backfield. Apart from five snaps on special teams Week 2, the rookie hasn't seen any playing time in the NFL yet.