Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Bruce Arians isn’t committing one way or another when it comes to the return of QB Jameis Winston.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Bruce Arians met with the media Tuesday morning at the NFL Combine and fielded many different questions pertaining to the draft, future roster moves and potential changes to the NFL schedule.
The most questions- as expected- were about the quarterback position.
When asked about the decision the Buccaneers have to make at quarterback, Arians maintained the position he has held for quite some time: It’s still a wait and see game.
Arians didn’t tip his hand one way or another, which should be expected, and maintained the idea that the Buccaneers are awaiting to see what will be available in free-agency before making any decisions.
Bruce Arians when asked if Jameis Winston is the guy for this upcoming year:
— PewterReport 🏴☠️ (@PewterReport) February 25, 2020
"He could be."
Arians did tell the media that he would’ve liked to have seen Winston’s mistakes improve through the last part of 2019, but he also seemed confident that many of those things can be fixed. He went on to say that the organization should know what’s available and be able to make a decision by next week.
Bruce Arians says he hasn’t made that decision on whether to use a tag on Jameis Winston. When will he know? “When we know who else is available. We should know by next week.”
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) February 25, 2020
Though there are unknowns when it comes to Winston, it still seems like the consensus is that the Buccaneers QB will be back, at least for one more season. Arians and the Tampa Bay organization are doing their due diligence in exploring all the possible options, but it still just seems unlikely that anyone else is playing the QB position other than Winston at the start of 2020. At least, that’s the vibe that’s coming off at this point.
Arians says Winston remains an “unknown” because of ups and downs. “Can we win with Jameis? Hell, yeah.”
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) February 25, 2020
Outside of the Winston situation, Arians shared his thoughts on several other interesting notes:
- He said he was interested in seeing where the 17th NFL game would be played (home or away).
- He said the current system of officiating is terrible and just wants the NFL to get the calls right, regardless of adding a ‘sky judge’ or not.
- When he was asked about running backs that he liked moving forward, he didn’t mention Peyton Barber.
- In terms of the draft, Arians said this was an athletic class of QBs and that he was keeping his eyes especially on the offensive tackles.