Buccaneers’ Jameis Winston on Austin Seferian-Jenkins: ‘I’m excited about his future’
The Buccaneers’ franchise quarterback spoke about tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins who was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI), and his release following shortly after.
With the Denver Broncos looming in Week 4 and the loss to the Los Angeles Rams firmly in the rear view mirror, the Buccaneers are also continuing to move on without their second round draft pick from three years ago.
They haven’t all forgotten about him though, and Jameis Winston spoke during a press conference on Wednesday about his former teammate and his departure from the team.
"“I know I was hurt, just because we spent so much time in the offseason just working.”"
During Winston’s rookie season in 2015 he and Seferian-Jenkins connected 21 times for 338 yards and four touchdowns in just seven games played together. The numbers all surpassed the tight ends own rookie numbers from the year prior despite playing two fewer games due to injury.
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Entering the off-season many fans of the franchise hoped to see a more mature and healthier player when he returned to camp, but were disappointed by the young man’s unceremonious dismissal from an OTA session by head coach Dirk Koetter.
Later, at the beginning of training camp, the Bucs’ coach announced Cameron Brate would be the team’s starting tight end moving forward with the troubled man playing second fiddle for at least the moment.
To the credit of Seferian-Jenkins he showed good effort and made several plays during training camp and even hauled in an impressive 30-yard touchdown pass from Winston in the team’s Week 1 win against the Atlanta Falcons.
ASJ’s future in the NFL isn’t over quite yet though as he was brought on by the New York Jets to add to an offensive attack featuring wide receivers Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker and running back Matt Forte.
Speaking about the future Winston said,
"“I know Austin is going to grow up and Austin is going to do an amazing job in New York,” he continued, “Sometimes you fall down, you bounce back and that’s just life.”"
Winston certainly has experience in this area and has made great strides to remake his own image following a scandalous career leading the Florida State Seminoles.
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If Seferian-Jenkins can get it turned around he would be one of a few former Bucs to find success elsewhere including Aqib Talib and LeGarrette Blount.