Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter is not one to mince words. He will let players know where they stand. He’ll also tell the media what is going on.
Following an early wrap-up of minicamp on Thursday, Koetter spoke about young franchise quarterback Jameis Winston. The reviews were mixed.
“I would say Jameis is different in that he knows he can play in the NFL. He knows he can be a successful player. Jameis, no one has higher expectations for his performance than he does,” Koetter said, via The Tampa Bay Times. “He’s aiming to be elite, not just one of 32. And because he has such high expectations and we have high expectations, it’s a never-ending process. We’re hard on Jameis and he’s hard on himself. Always improving but not where he wants to be.”
As the No. 1 overall pick back in 2015, there’s no reason why Tampa Bay shouldn’t be hard on Winston. Expectations should also be sky high for his ability to lead this team. Winston himself knows that very well.
Interestingly enough, the Buccaneers decided to end their minicamp early as to give their players some more time off. Winston was the only member of the team not happy with this decision. He wanted to continue putting the work in.
The Bucs are coming off a surprising 9-7 campaign that saw them in playoff contention into December. Though, Winston himself was inconsistent in his second season as the team’s starter. He did throw for almost 4,100 yards with 28 touchdowns.
But mistakes haunted the former Florida State standout. He opened the season with eight interceptions in the four four games en route to being picked off 18 times. That’s obviously an area Winston is going to want to work on this upcoming season.