Tampa, FL, USA;Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3). Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
TAMPA — Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston showed complete command in his second NFL start in Monday night’s 25-11 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, giving head coach Lovie Smith his first victory at Raymond James Stadium.
Winston completed 8-of-13 passes for 90 yards and scored on a 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. He went 3-for-3 on the drive that was helped by Doug Martin’s 53 yards rushing. The Bucs’ first overall pick also spread the football around, targeting eight receivers with his first eight passes Monday.
“My first two passes were checkdowns, so that was a big thing,” Winston said. “I don’t think I had too many checkdowns the first game.
“Completions all and all help you settle in and the way we were playing, we started fast and that was a good thing.”
Winston left the game early in the second quarter, several plays after he appeared to sprain his right ankle following a sack by Geno Atkins and Wallace Gilberry. He was checked by trainers following the game and Smith said the Bucs do not think the injury is serious.
However, Smith decided he had seen enough and replaced Winston with backup Mike Glennon.
“That was a tough fall he took there,” Smith said. “But no, that was just a coach’s decision on my part. I thought we saw enough of him. I thought he did some good things and thought that was a perfect time to take him out. But if we needed him to play, he would’ve gone back in the game the next series.”
The only mistake Winston made was missing a wide open Mike Evans for a deep pass that likely would have resulted in a touchdown. Evans left the game with a hamstring strain in the first quarter and has no catches in the first two preseason games.
“Jameis would probably tell you he’d like to have that deep ball back,” Smith said. “Besides that, I thought he was accurate throughout. Even on some of those incompletions, I thought the ball was right there. They had a couple good plays by their defenders. But I thought he was in control from the start and had an excellent week of preparation and played winning football.”
Prior to Monday night, the Bucs had lost 11 games in a row at Raymond James Stadium, including all 10 last season under Smith. Winston said regardless of it coming in the preseason, it was important to get the victory.
“Obviously, people are going to look at this as a preseason game,” Winston said. “But in that locker room, our team morale, we’re going to look at that as us getting a win. That’s important. You know, winning does matter. It doesn’t matter if it’s a football game in a Walmart parking lot, we want to win. So that’s important to us.”
–Bucs receiver Mike Evans, who left Monday’s game early with a hamstring injury, won’t play in the team’s two remaining preseason games, being careful not to aggravate the injury and risk missing part of the regular season.
Evans said the hamstring “stiffened” on him during the game and he left to avoid making it worse. Smith is careful with hamstring injuries. Safety Chris Conte hasn’t practiced in more than three weeks after injuring his hamstring on the first day of camp.
The injury means Evans won’t have any catches in the preseason. Winston tried to hit him deep on two passes Monday but both fell incomplete. Starters often are held out of the final preseason game, so it’s more significant that he isn’t playing in Saturday’s home game against Miami.
–Quarterback Mike Glennon audibled out of a run play and threw a perfect ball to receiver Russell Shepard, who made an over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone, giving the Bucs a 20-0 lead to help put Cincinnati out of reach early in a 25-11 preseason victory.
“They showed a Cover-Zero blitz, and I knew in my mind this run’s not going to do it,” Glennon said. “I checked to it. Shep did a great job on his man. I threw it up, gave him a chance and he made a great play.”
Glennon finished a solid 10-for-15 for 121 yards and a touchdown, and Shepard stepped up with two catches for 44 yards, as well as a 12-yard gain on an end-around. The special-teams standout — he had a tackle on the coverage team after getting two last week — was happy to see a smart read from his quarterback and make the most of it.
Notes: Center Evan Smith (groin) was held out of the Monday night game. He is expected to return to practice this week and play Saturday vs. the Browns. … Kicker Patrick Murray missed an extra point Monday night, but was 1-of-2 from 50-plus yards in field-goal attempts. … Running back Doug Martin continued his strong preseason, rushing for 59 yards on six carries Monday night. … Defensive end George Johnson, was acquired in a trade with the Lions, had 1.5 sacks against the Bengals.
