Arians likes what he’s seen from Winston so far

by Gary Shelton on August 3, 2019 · 0 comments

in general, NFL, Tampa Bay Bucs

Winston has impressed new coach Arians./STEVEN MUNCIE

Saturday, 3 a.m.

Bruce Arians likes what he sees out of Jameis Winston.

The rest of us? We're waiting to decide.

Oh, we've seen the flashes of excellence from Winston, too. But we've seen too many losses, too many interceptions and too many fumbles. It has been a trial for a Bucs' fan who has tried desperately to believe there was something better, something more promising, than the days with Josh Freeman and Trent Dilfer and Vinny Testaverde.

So forgive us if we decide we'll wait and see on Winston. It's okay if Arians believes. But for the rest of us, the jury is still out.

A smattering of Arians' reactions to Friday night's practice:

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On Winston's performance: "I thought (he was) right on schedule. I thought he had a great red-zone period. The whole practice was really good. I mean you've got 21 seconds left, you try to hit somebody and get picked, that's going to happen when you're down there and you lose your timeout. But overall, I love where he's at. I like where the offense is at now. We're running the ball much better. We're understanding what to do against all those different coverages we're seeing. This was probably one of our best practices, coming off the worst practice we've had. Whether you take it for a day off then a practice, day off then a practice, now they're just excuses. Our schedule doesn't allow us to sit at one o'clock every Sunday, so we've got to play at different times. We've got to get up and be ready to play, so that's why we're doing this. That's why we're at eight o'clock in the morning next week. Overall, I thought it was good."

On the weather: "Lightning delay the whole time; now three inches of rain. That's just going to ruin your practice. We've got all the elements we need as far as body temperatures being 101 for practice. That's what this is set up temperature-wise and humidity-wise to acclimate us to the first game. It's not going to be any hotter September the eighth than it is today. This is sports science. If you're going to come, come. I'm worried about the team getting in shape."

On Breshard Perriman having several touchdown catches: "Yeah, we're going to throw to the open guy. We don't target guys. So Jameis is doing a good job of spreading the ball around. He probably would have got the pass-interference call way down the middle. I'd like to see him just lay it out there and go get it, but it was a great read, a great throw. Just get it out a little bit further."

On Lavonte David sitting out practice: "Oh yeah, we're solid inside. He doesn't like the turf, I don't like the turf. He had a little swelling so we shut it down."

On when to expect a decision on the kicker: "The last cut. We don't have to cut him until after the last game, so…"

On tight end O.J. Howard and linebacker Devin White going at each other: "It makes me smile. They're going to be here for a while."

On versatility: "Position flexibility is how you make the team. If you're not a starter, you better be able to play two or three positions or we can't use you. You can't just be a back-up right tackle; you'll never dress on Sunday. You've got to be able to play both."

On the offense correcting mistakes: "That's what it's all about. We're still installing. So if we are installing against defenses that are being installed, then he didn't see those coverages yesterday or the day before. So it's all a growth period right now and we've got a long way to go until September the eighth. I like where we're at as a team, just the effort, the speed of practice. They'll be mistakes, we'll live with them. But if you're making too many, it's time to go."

On having a good practice after a bad one: "They said it themselves. I really didn't have to say much in the meeting. Put the sheet up and there's 64 mental errors…we've never had more than 32, you know? A lot of penalties, a lot of grabbing, so it was just not being ready to go after that day off. And we learned from it, so we bounced back tonight. I'm really anxious to see eight o'clock in the morning after the day off next week and see how go then, see if we learned our lesson."

On Noah Spence: "He's rushing the passer really well, he's just got to do a better job against the run. He's always rushing the passer. He's got to read the run a little bit better."

On Winston's need to start stringing good practices together: "Oh, yeah. He's got good growth every day. We're talking, we're learning, situations, this play versus that coverage, here's the best (play). That's all it is. He works really, really hard, studies good. He'll be fine."

 

 

 

 

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