After three good performances in the Bucs’ first preseason game that head coach Dirk Koetter was very pleased with, the Buccaneers did plenty of rotating with their quarterbacks Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jameis Winston and Ryan Griffin during Saturday’s open practice.
After starting the game on Thursday night against the Dolphins, Fitzpatrick was once again the first quarterback to go through scrimmage drills at practice. For the most part, Fitzpatrick was fine, but there was one area of passing game he couldn’t quite get right.
Hitting wide receiver DeSean Jackson.
#Bucs start things off with some red zone work. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick goes for a long one to DeSean Jackson but over throws him pic.twitter.com/EoNwZZqwrT
— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 11, 2018
After Fitzpatrick’s miss, later in the practice Ryan Griffin tried to test his luck with Jackson, which, as shown below, was also unsuccessful.
These quarterbacks just can’t seem to get it right with DeSean Jackson… pic.twitter.com/FkHf1rvznW
— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 11, 2018
After that missed we figured it might be a long day, and another day where we had to write that the chemistry between Jackson and his quarterbacks is still a work in progress.
But then the franchise quarterback came into the huddle.
THERE IT IS
Winston hits WR DeSean Jackson for a big score down the field: pic.twitter.com/C9rmjygvP1
— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 11, 2018
Winston hit Jackson for a big one — a play that you could tell Jackson has been dying to make due to how he and fellow wide receiver Mike Evans celebrated.
That play to Jackson was just the beginning.
Winston to Martino. The offense’s biggest play of the day so far: pic.twitter.com/ycZyPOmkfU
— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 11, 2018
Winston went 11-for-13 with 103 yards on Thursday night against the Dolphins, and it appeared he took that moment straight back to Tampa Bay, as he was dealing all practice long on Saturday.
Winston to Humphries — just like old times.
Winston is on the money today pic.twitter.com/Sg8LDZ67kk
— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 11, 2018
It looks like head coach Dirk Koetter wasn’t lying when he said that Winston’s arm looks as good as it ever has.
Winston looked timid and indecisive throwing the ball in the first few practice after his suspension. He doesn’t look that way anymore.
Come on famous jameis. This team, and us fans, need you to be the franchise player we expected you to be. I really
Do hope he works out well this year.
My only worry and stated this before is does it matter how well Jameis plays now or if he doesn’t play well? He will have several weeks off and can’t practice with team so how can we expect anything to carry over when and if he finally grabs the reins. Assuming he will be back game 4 but you never know if Fitz was hot and went 3-0 I doubt they would pull him? Not saying that will happen or I want it to just saying…..glad Winston is playing well but taking several weeks off just doesn’t make me excited… Read more »
Get excited about the fact that he looks good now, because it would be much more concerning if he looked terrible now and then had to take the time off.
What this means is Jameis is back on track and is not going into a bad slump like Tiger Woods did after his indisgressions became headline news. I expect Jameis to keep throwing with some retired NFL WRs during his three weeks off so he will be ready for Chicago. Fitz and Griffin are also playing great so we should be fine the first three games. We need to keep all three on our roster this year.
Sitting in the stands at Training Camp I often overhear absolutely ignorant comments. Many treat it like it’s a game instead of the learning tool that it is. At the Mock Game, every pass Jameis made that was incomplete this guy was ready to cut him and sadly, thrilled to be able to chide our still very young QB as loud as he could. Of course, we in the bleachers didn’t know the drill where it was the last play of the game for the win thus the reason for the questionable throws.
On the bright side, if you can actually say that, Jameis shouldn’t be as worn out by the end of the year if the Bucs just happen to make a playoff run. So hopefully this 3 week suspension at the beginning of the season will be a blessing at the end. Only time will tell.