The No. 2 pick of the 2015 NFL Draft was benched on Sunday and no one would have been too surprised if the No. 1 pick of that draft had found himself in the same situation as Marcus Mariota.
Jameis Winston threw five interceptions and lost a fumble in a 37-26 loss to the Panthers in London, but head coach Bruce Arians never called Ryan Griffin’s number. On Monday, he said it wasn’t something they’ll be considering during their bye week either.
“No. I look at the reasons why. What happened?” Arians said, via ESPN.com. “If it happens again, yeah, it’ll concern the hell out of me.”
Winston’s history says that another game like Sunday’s is likely to happen, something he noted when he said on Sunday that it wasn’t the worst game of his career. Arians is aware of that history, but said he remains confident that Winston can clean up his game.
“I think just him playing better, the guys around him playing better, coaching better — the whole thing,” Arians said. “I think as we continue to grow together, I think it will get better and these games will be one in a million and not one every five.”
The Bucs may not see Griffin, who has never taken a regular season snap, as a viable option to push Winston to the bench right now, but one would imagine a future without Winston is an increasingly likely path for the team to follow once the 2019 season is over.