QB Jameis Winston (11.21.24)
How fun was that?
“It was beautiful. It was beautiful for these fans, man. I appreciate everybody that came out here in these conditions, and I just pray that everyone gets home safely. Please celebrate. But please get home safely”
On your touchdown, how close were they to getting you? What did you see when you got away?
“I saw the end zone. I felt great protection, and I was just moving forward, and we found a way to get in there.”
What is the mindset after a couple of turnovers in the fourth quarter? They take the lead. You guys obviously need to score. What’s going through your head?
“Well, every time I come up here, I say one play at a time. And that is so important. And we exemplified that it’s one play at a time. We stick together, we fight for each other, and we found a way.”
Can you talk about the fact that you had never played the (Pittsburgh) Steelers before and you used NFL Films. Did you find yourself in the middle of NFL Films?
“Man, you know, it was. It really was amazing. Like, I was just praying on the sideline because that fourth quarter, it really was like. It was a whole paradigm shift. Like, we were playing so well offensively, and then bang – back-to-back drives with turnovers, and I’m just like, oh, my gosh. Like, this is really an NFL’s film moment. The snow starts pouring down. It starts getting like. I felt like my feet started getting heavy because I’m squishing through the snow. And, man, it was so good, and it was so great to end up getting that win.”
What are the attributes of a number one receiver?
“The attributes of a number one receiver is to get open, be able to make plays after the catch. Look at Jerry Jeudy. If you look at Jerry Jeudy and you see the things that he does. He gets open. He runs after the catch, and he fights for the football.”
How important is it for you to have a guy that you can trust like him?
“I have a lot of guys that I can trust, but, man, when you have someone that is very talented and has a knack for getting open, has a knack when the moment matters most, he makes the play. I’m grateful to be throwing the ball to Jerry Jeudy.”
Two touchdowns by RB Nick Chubb. Big night for him. Any emotion out of him?
“You know, I don’t believe in coincidences. And before this game, I told Nick, I said, ‘I got you today.’ I know how important this was for him. And we ain’t going to talk about last year. Y’all all know the gig, but I’m so grateful and happy that I was able to see a smile on his face after that sweet victory against this team.”
For this team going forward, you come off the disappointment coming out of the bye week four days ago. What can this do going forward for this team?
“We have to stack it one day at a time. Today, yes, we’re going to celebrate. You know, I’m grateful that fans came out and showed out, but we have to see this team again in two weeks. We have the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football. Another prime time game, and they’re playing good. My Alabama boy, Bo Nicks, he’s showing out, he playing. But at the same time, man, we going to celebrate today. We have to focus on being where our feet are. And right now we’re going to celebrate this win. We still got some things that we got to clean up. I still have some things I have to clean up. So we’re still focusing on building on the positives and eliminating the negatives.”
Can you talk a little bit about Myles (Garrett)? He went into this game with a big storyline, went out and just had a monster first half…
“You know, you don’t want to put a chip on Myles’ shoulder, all right? Because he will definitely go off. And, man, I’m just excited. I’m blessed to be a part of a team that has great players and he is a phenomenal player. I played with some great players, but, you know, he led the charge, man. He spoke to us in the locker room before the game and he called on everybody to step up and fight with him and he really set the tone.”
How was the footing out there?
“Well, man, shout out to the equipment staff for giving us having our screw ons in, man. It was good, but it snowed, man. It wasn’t the best footing, but this is football, right? This is Cleveland, Ohio. It’s snowing, man. This is what you live and you dream, and you pray for to be in an environment like this, man, like, you hope for a win and we got the win. You make snow angels.”
Did the ball slip out of your hand on the interception?
“No, the ball did not slip out of my hand. I just missed my target. I missed my target. Elijah (Moore) made a great route and I was too far to the right of him.”
In classic football fashion, you got a cracked helmet with a battery sticking out of it or something. Can you just talk about what happened there and how did you communicate after that on the two pointer?
“I love this game because there are so many pieces that go into us going out there and doing our job. Again, on days like this, you know, obviously in the comfort of your own seat, you don’t realize the people, the equipment staff, the trainers, the media, the people that are doing things behind doors to make our life easier. So I’m so grateful that we got these thermals, we had our screw-ins, we had hand warmers, we had the heated benches, you know, it was amazing. So shout out to them.”
Was that your first time singing ‘Jingle Bells’ after a game?
“Well the only reason I’m singing ‘Jingle Bells’ is because I FaceTimed my wife this morning and my boys were singing in the car on the way to school, so they had it stuck in my head. When we first got up here to Cleveland, like on the plane, my boys are singing, ‘jingle bells, jingle bells’ because I told him about my first trip in March where it snowed out of the middle of nowhere. I’m getting my physical and it started snowing. So I told them, ‘Hey, Cleveland is a place where it snows.” You know, we were coming from Tampa and New Orleans. They haven’t seen snow, really. The only time they have seen snow is when we were back in Alabama. So they were singing ‘Jingle Bells’. So they had me singing ‘Jingle Bells.’”
What is the irony of a guy from Alabama and a guy from South Florida making some of the biggest plays in the middle of the snowstorm?
“It shows you just the love of football, what the love of football will do. Football brings so many people from different areas, different backgrounds together, and how beautiful is it for us to go out there and execute? I mean, Nick’s from Georgia. We’re doing great things, man, and we have to build off this.”
How many snow games have you had?
“This is my first one. It’s my first snow game.”