As his Tampa Bay Buccaneers prepare to take on the Atlanta Falcons Sunday, quarterback Jameis Winston has other things on his mind.
The former No. 1 pick will be inactive again with a shoulder injury, the third consecutive game that Winston will miss.
Off the field, Winston is currently the subject of an investigation stemming from a situation last year that included allegations of him groping a female Uber driver in Arizona (more on that here).
It now appears that said investigation will not be wrapped up by the NFL this season.
“The investigation is not expected to be wrapped up by the end of this season, according to a source. Winston’s case could hang over the upcoming NFL offseason similar to how Ezekiel Elliott’s case extended through this past NFL offseason,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday morning.
As Schefter notes, this could represent a mirror image of the situation we saw surround Ezekiel Elliott leading up to the 2017 season. Elliott was suspended six games for multiple alleged domestic violence incidents. After a long court battle, the Cowboys’ running back dropped his case and has sat out the past three games.
The offseason before saw the NFL and Tom Brady also engaged in a long court battle after he was allegedly involved in the infamous Deflategate scandal.
Noticing a theme here?
In any event, it’s safe to say Winston will be eligible to play when he returns from injury here soon. After that, it’s anyone’s guess how this might turn out. He faces a six-game ban under the NFL’s code of conduct policy.