Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter has a disconnect with ESPN’s Jon Gruden about his feelings on Jameis Winston. Gruden had insinuated during Monday Night Football that the head coach wasn’t confident in his sophomore quarterback after an errant pass:
“I think coach Koetter lost confidence in Winston after he forced the ball into a double zone,” Gruden said on the national ESPN broadcast as Aguayo trotted out onto the field.
Koetter responded to the Pewter Report’s Mark Cook with the following about that issue:
“That wasn’t a lack of confidence,” Koetter said. “Again, when analysts say stuff like that, that’s like – when Jon (Gruden) was coaching and someone said that about him, you know what he’d be standing up here saying? ‘That guy doesn’t know what I’m thinking or anything about my team.’ He gets paid to talk on T.V. I get paid to coach the Bucs.”
Koetter’s confidence in Winston shouldn’t have been questioned by Gruden, but that’s what Gruden’s job is. Winston is slumping a little bit and might not have a good sophomore season because of it. However, he has shown flashes this season just as much as he did his rookie year.
Once the Buccaneers can get Winston comfortable again, they should see a jump in his play and a reduction in his mistakes that have been dooming the Buccaneers to a 2-3 record so far this season.