The departure of Jameis Winston from the Buccaneers sent a lot of shock waves through the Tampa Bay fan base. For Winston’s supporters it hasn’t been easy.
While signing Tom Brady, the NFL’s best quarterback of all time, has eased the sting for Winston backers, there still seems to be a little bit of regret. Perhaps even from some in the organization.
On The Pat McAfee podcast on Thursday Bucs QB coach Clyde Christensen raved about the acquisition of Tom Brady, but he also mentioned Winston and the respect he has for Tampa Bay’s former No. 1 pick.
While Christensen doesn’t believe that essentially trading Winston for Brady was a mistake, he does have some regret over how it turned out.
“I love Jameis Winston, I loved every minute working with Jameis Winston, I really believe he’s going to get the right chance at the right place,” Christensen said. “Maybe like Ryan Tannehill where it takes backing up, who knows what the scenario will be, but he will rise to the top. I think he’s a starting, upper-echelon quarterback in this NFL and I do think he’s going to get these interceptions under control a little bit.
“In some ways I feel like I failed him a little bit, as a coach you take that personal. I didn’t get it done, I didn’t help this kid. This kid’s better than 30 interceptions and we didn’t get that done and that I’ll have to live with.”
Christensen continued.
“I really think that he’s a great kid and I think his career is a long way from being over. I think it’s all ahead of him, I think the good stuff is all ahead of him and some of his were self-inflicted he would tell you early in his career but he’s mature, he got married last Friday, he married his high school sweetheart and he’s off and running and I really believe with all my heart that he’s going to be a good player.”
You can watch the full show here. Christensen begins at the 20 minute mark.