After being sent to the bench following a three-interception performance against the Kansa City Chiefs in Week 15, Jameis Winston lost his usual happy-go-lucky demeanor.
That's right, after spending weeks drawing headlines for his goofy comments and silly activities as much as his insane through-the-air feats, Winston was downright miffed while talking to reporters about how the game shook out, as it seemed like every 50-50 ball went KC's way.
“I believe, one, that has something to do with me, right? I like to toss the ball around. I have to be more precise with my passes, and I have to just give us a better chance. Also, when you throw the ball a lot, that happens,” Jameis Winston told reporters. “Today, it was different. Today, we had one tipped off a guy's finger. We had one that was a 50-50 ball, and the guy made the play. These interceptions, sometimes they, can be skewed to be something that's like, ‘Oh my gosh, it's his decision-making.' But I just encourage people to go watch the film. Today, the first one that I threw, they got me on the disguise coverage. I didn't see the backside safety. I thought I was throwing a touchdown to Elijah (Moore), and the guy made a great play.”
A surprising development? You bet, but with his time starting for the Browns potentially over and his stock not particularly elevated by his efforts, it's also not particularly unreasonable, as Winston waited a long time for this opportunity.
Asked during his first media session of Week 16 about Winston's interception and how much of each mistake fell on his own shoulder, Stefanski told reporters that he went over the plays with both his quarterbacks ahead of a very uncertain Week 16 decision under center.
“Yeah, I would tell you, and we kind of talked about this last week, you really treat each play as its own entity, if you will, and you make sure that you coach a player up on every single play,” Stefanski told reporters. “So, on plays where you have an interception, or a missed assignment or whatever it may be, you just try to learn from every single one of those, and they're all different. So that's what we're continuing to do. I think just sitting with the quarterbacks and going over those plays, I think it's good for everybody to learn from them, particularly when you feel like you can maybe make a better decision, have better technique, whatever it may be.”
Fortunately for Winston, the one that could save his starting spot is the presence of Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who has played downright bad for the team in 2024. Still, after being afforded a chance to lead a team once more, it's hard not to feel for Winston that things didn't go his way, as he did put some good play on tape despite being handed a deck loaded against him.