Bucs Not Worried About Winston’s Interceptions
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It doesn’t matter who you are, whether you’re a fan of the Buccaneers or not, whether you’re a fan of Jameis Winston or not, whether you’re a fan of the NFL in general or not, every single person out there knows that Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston has to work on and improve upon his turnovers. Interceptions, fumbles, tipped passes, whatever category you want to put them in, the turnovers have to be addressed.
In just his first four seasons, Jameis has thrown a total of 58 interceptions. While it might seem like a daunting number, you might just want to think again. When asked about the interception numbers, Quarterbacks Coach Clyde Christensen didn’t seem to be worried at all, in fact, he went on the record discussing the issue of interceptions around the league mentioning that almost all the quarterbacks around the league saw higher numbers in their first four years than they did as they progressed further into their careers. Manning, Luck, Cam, Stafford, Roethlisberger, and the list goes on and on.
Heading into his contract year however, it’s time for Jameis to prove that he’s the franchise player we hoped he would be when he was drafted in 2015, and the talent that so many of his fans have been singing the praises of since he first stepped onto the field. He has to work on his decision making and knock off some of those horrible decisions such as overthrowing his receiver on purpose rather than risk an interception and feeling like he has to get rid of it simply because the offensive line couldn’t hold the protection. He’s not a rookie anymore, and it’s time for him to start acting like the veteran player he is. With the new coaching staff and supporting cast in place, there are no more excuses, no more finding fault in the defense or the running game, it’s time to put up or shut up. The pieces are in place for him to win, now it’s simply up to him to prove he has what it takes to do it.
If Bruce Arians isn’t panicking about the interceptions, and Byron Leftwich isn’t overly concerned with the interceptions and Clyde Christensen isn’t losing any sleep over the interceptions, then perhaps it’s simply not much to worry about at this point. We shall see what happens, but I have plenty of faith that the new coaching staff will put him into better situations in which he is able to reduce the amount of dumb decisions he makes, and I’m just as confident that Jameis will step it up and silence the critics.