QB Jameis Winston (11.27.24)
“Hey, guys, Happy Thanksgiving. I know I’ll see y’all to say, ‘Merry Christmas’. Obviously, I’m thankful for every day, but I know just for y’all, I’m thankful for y’all for always challenging us, holding us up to a standard that you want to see your team too. So, I’m very thankful for that, and I hope you all can find something singular that you’re thankful for as well.”
You talked about Sean (Payton) a couple weeks ago. What was the impact he had on you? Can you measure where he made the biggest impact on you?
“I would say his aura. His essence, him being authentically himself. And I think that won me over so much because from a head coach perspective, I haven’t really seen that much personality in my head coach… Bruce Arians was a great example, he did have personality… but that was my first year with him, so it was kind of like a feel out process. I’ve known him since I grew up. But what Sean possessed was a leadership quality that was so important to our team, at New Orleans Saints, because, I’ve always put Drew (Brees) on this pedestal, and I knew it was Drew’s team, but in a sense, Sean was one of our biggest leaders, our hardest workers, and definitely he was a leader among men, and that’s how I put it. He was one of the best leaders I’ve been around.”
Setting aside your personal feelings and respect and all that type of thing, what would it mean to go to Denver and beat him?
“Well, we would be beating the Denver Broncos. And I think that is the main focus. But getting a win in this league is important, regardless of who the opponent is. And I know this is a great defense. I know that as a young kid from Alabama that’s playing some great football right now. So, I think that would be an important win for the Cleveland Browns to go and scratch away a win in Denver.”
How nice is it, though, for you to always talk about that year that you had with Sean and Drew together and all the things that you learned? How nice is it for you to go sort of put that on display and show Sean that you really took all of that stuff to heart and put it out on the ground?
“Yeah, Sean doesn’t want me to prove anything to him. What I’m doing right now is I’m taking it one play, one day at a time. And that’s how my focus is. My focus is taking it one play at a time and executing that one play to the best of my abilities. So that’s the most important thing in my mind right now.”
Jerry Jeudy has talked about the need to be patient as a receiver. The ball is not always going to come his way, even though everyone wants it. Why has he gotten more targets with you at quarterback?
“Well, the simple thing, he’s been open. I think we’ve schemed up some great things to get him open, and he’s just a great receiver. And when you’re doing what you’re doing — this is how I look at it, Cedric Tillman is our muscle receiver, and he gets in there, he blocks, he makes tough catches, makes run after the catch. But when you see your wide receiver one in Jerry Jeudy, block, make effort plays for Nick Chubb, make effort plays for the offensive line, you know that he is embracing the entire part of being a football player. And I think Jerry Jeudy is one of the best football players I’ve played with. And when you encompass everything that it means to be a football player, the blocking on defense, the tackling, the details, things typically go your way. So, he’s been doing a great job of doing all phases, and I think that’s why things are going his way.”
Jameis, I hear you, ‘One play at one time’, but would you like to be back here next year?
“Of course. In terms of my family… when I think about my family, I think about moving my kids, my wife having to find new friends. I think anytime where you’re able to solidify a role and a place and play good at that place, you like to be home. However, that’s out of my control. Again, my focus is on, ‘One play at a time’, Jeff (Schudel), and just stacking it up day after day after day.”
So have you found a home here? Are you comfortable in the Cleveland area? You had never been up North before.
“Well, you know, Jeff (Schudel), I’m comfortable everywhere I go. [Laughter] Every room I step in, I’m comfortable. But no, I mean, I’ve truly embraced this city. I love the hard-noesd. I love the beautiful trees, three months out the year. [Laughter] Everywhere I go, I always talk about, when I have my introductory, I talk about, ‘I’m grateful’. And it’s as simple as that. Man, I’m grateful for the fans challenging me. I’m grateful for the fans lifting me up. I’m grateful for you all challenging me and lifting me up, man. It’s a process that I really take to heart because I feel like all of us are in this together, and that’s just how I approach it.”
When you see all the different modalities you use every single week and how much work you put in that regard, just with the altitude, did you do anything differently to prepare for that and getting the extra day out there, how important is that?
“Yeah, I think it’s important when you’re going out there, you want to get a feel and see how you react when you’re out there because nothing can really simulate it. But what the Cleveland Browns have done for us, we have an altitude room in-house. So I’m going to be encouraging all my teammates to use the altitude room. I know I got my work in yesterday and I’m probably going to get some more in throughout the week. So just taking all the resources that this organization allows us to have and making the most of it.”
Do you do cardiovascular in that room, is that what it’s for?
“Yes, sir. Yes, sir. We got treadmills, we got some AssaultBikes, we got some skiing. No pun intended, we can’t ski, but the little ski thing.”
So what, it simulates the high altitude?
“Yeah, you should take a look at it, man. It’s the first door to your right, and it goes up to… I don’t know how long it goes up to. But you close it up and it basically simulates the altitude.”
You had something of an NFL homecoming a couple weeks ago. We’re not going to talk to Jerry until Friday. What do you think it’s going to mean for him to go back to where his pro career began?
“I think it’s going to mean a lot, man, because again, Jerry’s an elite football player and he loves this game. So, I know he’s going to be very grateful to go back into that building and he’s going to be hoping and desiring success, and it’s my desire to give him the most success that’s required for him to have on that day. So, I’m going to be with him. I’ve got his back.”
With the backdrop of taking everything one play at a time, do you get more comfortable when you are able to string starts together? Four starts already, I think it’s the first time you start four games since whatever, 2021. So, do you feel more comfortable out there play in and play out?
“Yeah, well, I think that the key thing is you feel the offense, right? How is the offense working? You get a chance to watch, like, what are we good at? You know what I’m saying? What am I good at? And I say this all the time, how can I build on the positives and eliminate the negatives? So, I think when you have more of a database to pick from, to study, really self-study is so important at the quarterback position, whether it’s footwork, whether it’s coverages, how defenses are playing you. You get just a bigger platform to study.”
Along the lines of like the taking everything at a time, we heard some of the stories just about you had the two turnovers in that game on Thursday, but you just you were very positive on the sidelines, talking to your teammates, picking them up, saying “We’re going to be okay.” Has that always been the way you kind of handled those situations or did you have to kind of learn that as your career went along?
“Yeah, I mean, again, that 2019 to 2020 year with, I mean with Byron (Leftwich) and Clyde (Christensen) as my quarterback coach, I got so — like we’re not focusing on outcomes, right? We’re focusing on decisions and how we’re executing. And I think that takes away so much weight from a quarterback shoulder of like, ‘Oh man, this happened, all that happened,’ because it’s literally what I’m about to say; it’s one play at a time, and it’s as simple as that. You look at some of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, man, if they have a tough game, it’s about what they do in that crunch time to lift their team up. It’s about the complimentary of their teammates. Defense going out there, getting a three-play stop, getting us the ball back. It’s Joel Bitonio saying, ‘Hey man, run behind me.’ It’s all that put together to end up with a win. Anytime you end up with a win, everything is a little bit better.”
Since the last time we saw you, you have become quite the Internet sensation with ‘Mic’d Up’ and diving into the snow and making snow angels and all that kind of stuff. What kind of feedback have you gotten? Have you heard from some people? How fun was that to bring that kind of energy and put that out there like that?
“That’s just who I am and then I just happen to get it on camera. So, if whoever watched it, I hope you enjoyed it. But I think it’s just good for people to see people being who they truly are, right? So that encourages everyone to be who you are. Jon Batiste has a song that I sang with my boys; you can only be who you are, and that is so important not worrying about other people, being grateful for other people, but not worrying about what other people got going on, but focusing on how you can be the best version of yourself every day.”
You sort of said after the game you joked, are you a Cleveland Brown now. In the almost week since, do you feel like you’re officially a Cleveland Brown now?
“I do. I really do. I’m so grateful that we were able to get last week’s victory, man. But man, we have to see that team again. And I think that’s the beautiful thing about this division. That’s the beautiful thing about football is when you see a great battle and you have historic nights. That was a historic night to me, probably not in history, but that was an extraordinary night. There’s definitely going to be some snow globes coming out soon. But after that it’s recuperate, focus on the main thing, what’s the main thing, going out there and playing the best football we could play against the Denver Broncos, who have a great defense, who have a great young quarterback that’s from Alabama, that’s doing some great things and has a great leader in Sean Payton.”
You mentioned Bo (Nix) there. Just how does Sean and what Sean’s system is, how does that benefit a young kid? Well, he’s not really young, but a rookie quarterback like him.
“I feel like Sean loves challenges and I think that he had an eye for Bo probably two years ago. If you ask Sean, ‘When did you think Bo Nix was going to be your quarterback?’ Sean can go to the date and the time like, ‘I knew at this time Bo Nix was going to be my quarterback.’ I think he just does a good job of coaching to what his players’ strengths are and we see that with Bo getting better and better every single week.”
Whether it’s you coming in at like at 6 a.m. and you’re reciting the play calls, or getting in cardio, or lifting, or out on the field trying to run through stuff or taking a nap. Do you have a set schedule every week of like the stuff you do? Or does it just come naturally to you just doing any of those things when it hits you, “Hey, I need to brush up on this”?
“Yes, I have a plan. I’m a firm believer that you can either live by design or by default. I choose to live by design.”
Monday night is the ‘My Cause My Cleats’ game. I know you’ll be representing your foundation. Can you just talk a little bit about what that is and why that’s something that’s near and dear to your heart?
“Yes, the Jameis Winston Dream Forever Foundation provides resources and opportunities for the disadvantaged youth by including STEM; science, technology, engineering and math, into these dream rooms that we build that provides students with 25 iPads, robotics, Legos. One of my most favorite things is about the creative part of the true Dream Forever. We all have a dream, but sometimes through growing up, our dreams can be capped by what we experience. So, encouraging the kids by giving them smart boards on there, that they sit down in, it’s whiteboards. Being creative, never stop dreaming, never stop believing and knowing that with God, undeniable faith, school, continuous learning and education and three, I can do anything I put my mind to. That’s the Dream Forever perspective that these kids will succeed no matter if they are a truck driver or an NFL player.”