The Facts: While the incoming coaching staff has been impressed with Winston's overall body of work, cutting down on interceptions will, indeed, be a focus -- “that’s a fact," QBs coach Clyde Christensen said. "We have to eliminate them.”
Diehards Line:
Breaking down the tape, Christensen was able to categorize Winston’s mistakes. Most involved his aggressive nature. Some were a result of being down a couple scores late. Others were forced balls downfield. And others still came down to judgment. “Andrew Luck was the same thing. It’s hard—those guys, they just don’t give up on a play,” Christensen said, who worked with Luck in Indianapolis. “It’s hard for [Winston] to give up on a play, and that’s the hardest thing to teach." A area that Christensen and Winston have already done a lot of work on is wayward throws that simply wind up getting picked off. As the coach sees it, a lot of inaccuracy is caused by bad or sloppy technique, and so the Bucs really drilled down on the fundamentals over the spring. Again, Christensen still sees everything that made Winston the first pick in the draft four years ago. And at the same time, he remembers arriving in Tampa a generation ago with Tony Dungy, and how Trent Dilfer’s career went sideways because so many things went wrong around him. That’s given Christensen perspective on what it’ll take to get the most out of Winston—and how it’s the new staff’s job to create the right environment for their quarterback, which starts with a system they think fits him to a T. Time will tell if results show up accordingly.