Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston is in a critical contract year and is learning a
new offense for the first time since arriving in Tampa Bay in 2015.
PewterReport.com will chronicle each one of Winston’s practices during camp
in the Winston Watch.

One practice after he had his best performance this training camp, Jameis Winston had a rocky go of it during the first half of practice. The Bucs began the day working 1-on-1 drills between receivers and corners, but mixed up the passing duos. Winston started out with receivers such as Spencer Schnell, and he couldn’t get on the same page with them. He had an overthrow that was picked off by M.J. Stewart, and two passes broken up by Vernon Hargreaves.

This was the first.

Followed by the second play by Hargreaves.

Moving over to the first 11-on-11 series, Winston’s inconsistencies continued. His receivers didn’t do him any favors this practice, as there were several drops all night. His timing was off, throwing some passes wide, and he was once again intercepted, this time by D’Cota Dixon. Winston was instantly saved on the immediate next play on a day where the offensive line was better than it’s been.

In that session, he did manage to get together with Mike Evans.

The title of this does say that Winston rebounded in the red zone, but it wasn’t the first red zone session. He was picked once more, this time by Carlton Davis, and had another two incompletions, but he did throw a touchdown pass to historically his favorite red zone target, Cam Brate. The two of them haven’t really connected on passing plays much this camp, so it was promising to see some progress.

Say what you want about the fifth-year quarterback, but this is a guy that stays confident out there. Things weren’t going Winston’s way on Thursday night, but that didn’t stop him from continuing to sling the ball around.

The tides turned for him when drills moved to 7-on-7 in the red zone. While there wasn’t a pass rush, he was still dealing. Winston had three touchdowns in that drill, including two to Mike Evans. It was his highest completion rate of practice, getting the wheels in motion for the final drill.

Todd Bowles’ defense brought the house often in the last 11-on-11 of the night, but Winston wasn’t as erratic as he was earlier in practice. It looked as if he learned from his earlier mistakes as he got running backs Peyton Barber and Andre Ellington involved. He then went back to the well with Brate, as the two linked up twice over the middle. There were a couple of misplaced throws, yet still better than before.

All in all, this wasn’t the Jameis Winston that Bucs fans want to see, especially throwing three interception. There’s something to be said about his resiliency, though, moving ahead.