Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston was on the practice field and throwing passes Wednesday in a change from the last two weeks.
The hope is that Winston’s right shoulder holds up well and that the increased time with his teammates sparks better results than the Bucs got in last Sunday’s 17-3 loss to the Panthers. During a Wednesday press conference, Winston said he’s feeling good after Wednesday’s work and that he’s hopeful that the offense is moving closer to developing the identity that has been missing.
“In terms of identity, talking about everybody as a team because it’s a completely new team like every year,” Winston said, via Pewter Report. “We just have to find that. We have to find what makes us click, what makes us go and we’re trying out different things. Eventually when we establish that it’s going to be great. We’re looking forward to establishing that sooner than later, obviously.”
The final sentence from Winston’s quote is a key one because there isn’t that much later to go. At 2-5, the Buccaneers are pretty close to having their backs against the wall already and any more growing pains are going to leave them with zero margin for error if they are going to improve on last year’s results.
That was the general expectation for Tampa’s season and failing to get there may guarantee it will feel like a “completely new team” again next year.