Jameis Winston’s first full season as a starting quarterback since 2019 has not started too swimmingly with the former No. 1 overall pick struggling with mistakes through the first three weeks.
That was magnified even further during Sunday’s brutal 22-14 loss to the Carolina Panthers. New Orleans was shutout through three quarters before scoring two touchdowns in the final stanza.
For his part, Winston completed 25-of-41 passes for 353 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions while putting the ball on the turf twice in another mistake-filled performance from the veteran signal caller. Despite this, Saints head coach Dennis Allen firmly committed to Winston as his starting quarterback moving forward.
“No, no. We all have to play better. I’m not looking to single anything out, obviously we’ve got to make some corrections and we’ve got to do a better job as a group.”
New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen on whether he is going to replace Jameis Winston, via ESPN.com.
The option to take over for Winston is a veteran in Andy Dalton who has a ton of starting experience dating back to his days with the Cincinnati Bengals. Dalton was reportedly impressive during the summer and training camp.
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Jameis Winston’s injury could be impacting the quarterback
It was noted ahead of last week’s game that Winston was dealing with a transverse fracture to the back. There’s an argument that this has impacted his early-season performance. Dennis Allen seemed to back up that theory.
“Every time it presses down on his psoas muscle it makes it really hard when he applies weight on his back foot,” Allen on Winston’s injury. That’s not ideal. At. All.
Jameis Winston stats (2022): 63% completion, 858 yards, 4 TD, 5 INT, 3 fumbles, 79.6 QB rating
Regardless of the injury, this type of performance is not going to cut it in today’s NFL. New Orleans sits at 1-2 on the season. It has lost two consecutive games and continues to struggle on the offensive side of the ball.
Set to take on the Minnesota Vikings in Week 4, more struggles on the part of Winston could very well lead to Allen making the decision to bench him. At least for now, that doesn’t seem to be in the cards.