Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians spent a lot of the 2019 season defending quarterback Jameis Winston. Now? Not.
Making the media rounds at the Scouting Combine, Arians has been at his most candid regarding Winston’s performance during their first (and maybe only) season together. The attached video, from PFT Live, contains plenty of the two-time coach of the year’s raw assessment of Winston. Appearing separately on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Arians got specific regarding the number of interceptions from his total of 30 that were Winston’s responsibility.
“I think there are about 10 that weren’t his fault,” Arians said, via JoeBucsFan.com. “But I would have liked to have seen a better December. You know, that’s usually, that end of November and December, it starts clicking for us. It did for Carson in Arizona. It did for Ben [Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh]. It did for everybody. But [Jameis] made some mistakes in December that I didn’t like.”
And so Arians continues to be ambivalent about a player who is due to become a free agent in just a few weeks.
“I loved him and I hated him,” Arians said. “More love, I mean, you throw for 30-something touchdowns and 5,100 yards, there’s a lot to love. The mistakes sometimes, you scratch your head. . . . He’s one of those guys that wants to go out and win the game by himself sometimes. Let the other guys help you.”
Winston has shown throughout his career an inclination to try to do too much, which invites mistakes. Often untimely ones. And despite all the good from Winston in 2019, his worst moments may have come at the worst possible time.