Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht is adamant that rookie quarterback Jameis Winston has to minimise his mistakes ahead of his rookie season in the NFL.
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Coach Lovie Smith was pleased at the way Winston rebounded despite INTs by Lavonte David and Alterraun Verner.
He said they’re doing a lot of things they don’t normally do early and are giving him a lot of looks.
Winston was much sharper in the seven-on-seven work that followed and also in the final two 11-on-11 periods, where there was a significant difference to his approach.
“We’re not inventing defense or anything like that with what we’re doing on the other side”.
Now granted, this is early in the year and they have yet to play against an opposing defense, but at this point if you are saying that Marcus Mariota will struggle and that Jameis Winston won’t because of a college system you either aren’t reading or watching these quarterbacks or you are just lying to yourself. Keep in mind there are some scholarship players on the other side that we feel pretty good about. It’s glass-half-full always. I don’t think he has time to do that.
The reviews on Winston have been generally positive through camp, and the Bucs have already named him their starter (such that that was a mystery).
But unless the Buccaneers are going to be able to create turnovers at that kind of rate against every opponent, Winston is going to have to learn and learn quickly.
“Every day I walk in that locker room, he’s in there working on his abs”, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said.
So far, the identifying aspect to Winston is that he says the right things, and the right ways. It’s just new. You are going to make some mistakes. You have to find your corrections and make adjustments. “The thing is to bounce back and to keep moving forward”.
“I’m trying to get some respect out here”, said Alexander, who turned 21 on Monday. If Lanning continues this performance, don’t be surprised to be see No. 5 deep behind the line of scrimmage at the start of the season instead of the familiar face we have seen the past few seasons. “But Jameis can handle Jameis”, Smith said.
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But the Bucs are trying to make the transition as easy as possible, starting with pairing him with Koetter, who spent the last three years as the offensive coordinator for quarterback Matt Ryan in Atlanta. It helps me actually view what greatness is. You saw the Ronda Rousey fight. We have plenty of veterans in that huddle that he can lean on – me, Logan, Vincent [Jackson].
