There was a noticeably different tone from Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston as he spoke to the media on Wednesday before Tampa Bay heads out to Los Angeles for their Week 4 matchup with the Rams, led by head coach Sean McVay.

The fifth-year quarterback spoke softer than he had following the Bucs’ narrow victory over the Panthers the week before. Winston gave his feelings about the long stretch of road games that the team will be facing in the coming weeks, as well as what Tampa Bay has excelled with offensively and where they must improve going forward.

Bucs QB Jameis Winston – Photo by: Getty Images

On thing that Winston has specifically taken a little flack for this past week has been his tendency to stand in the pocket and keep his eyes downfield as opposed to scrambling, something that head coach Bruce Arians has admitted emphasizing for the fifth-year quarterback, that has led to potentially avoidable sacks.

“Yeah, I’ve taken a couple of sacks but that’s what I try to do, I try to make plays,” Winston said. “And I just haven’t been making a lot of plays. I took a lot of sacks last game but eventually I’m going to scramble and make some big plays.”

Winston continued

“I’m always trying to make a play downfield but sometimes when you extend plays you get the good side, you make a big play, and sometimes you take sacks.”

Winston then moved to the efficiency that the team’s running backs have had through three games. Tampa Bay is averaging 121.7 yards per game on the ground, good for eighth-best in the NFL, but Tampa Bay’s signal caller was asked about the need for balancing aggressiveness with establishing the run on early downs.

“I just think that it’s such a positive when you’re able to run the football,” Winston said. “Whether that’s on first down or not. The more effective we are, if we can continue to be efficient, eventually it’ll open up some big play action shots for us. As long as we keep running the football effectively, I’m happy.”

A major factor in Tampa Bay’s improvements on the ground has been the team’s second-round pick in 2018, Ronald Jones.

“I think that he’s been working his tail off all off-season, and it’s shown,” Winston said. “He has to continue doing what he’s doing. All of our running backs have been running very efficiently but RoJo has been dominating. I’m proud of him and I’m just going to keep on giving him the rock.”

It was also noted that the Bucs shifted almost exclusively to the ground game after Winston’s interception on Sunday, handing the ball off for seven consecutive runs on their following drive before stalling out inside the New York five-yard line, leading to a Matt Gay field goal. The question then becomes, was offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich trying to call his offense around his starting quarterback, as opposed to through him?

“I think we were just running the ball effectively,” Winston said. “It really steps on a team’s will when you’re able to run it down their throat. You think about that drive we had against Carolina where we just ran that ball and we were really just one block away from scoring against the Giants. It’s definitely a team effort. I had my chance there at the end of the game and we executed there. So we’re going to have some games like that but we just have to bounce back, focus on this game and get a victory.”

Ronald Jones – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

With the Giants game now officially in the rear view mirror, Tampa Bay heads out for a seven-week stretch between home games, including two West Coast games, a divisional “home” game in London and a bye week mixed in.

Winston doesn’t fear the traveling though, especially citing how well the Bucs’ staff has prepared the team for the long road trips, whether that be through the use of compression socks or exercises before flights.

“I enjoy traveling,” Winston said. “Just because I like being on the plane and being with the guys for an extended period of time. You actually get a chance to see them and talk to them.”

But at the end of the day, it’s all about winning for Tampa Bay, especially after dropping their first two crucial home games in 2019.

“It’s one game at a time,” Winston said. “We have to come with a different sense of urgency when we’re on the road because we know that the other team is defending their home territory but we have to finish strong here. I’m not looking ahead but we have to finish strong for our fans and get some wins at home, just for us, because we have to defend our home court. Right now we have a great away stretch and we just have to take it one game at a time and do our best in every one of those games.”