Multiple teammates offered high praise for quarterback Jameis Winston after Winston guided the Cleveland Browns to a 29-24 upset win over the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday, improving Cleveland to 2-6.
For a piece published Friday, Browns players spoke with ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi about what Winston offers the team while serving as its QB1 in place of Deshaun Watson. Watson went down with a ruptured right Achilles tendon in Week 7.
“Energy, excitement and faith,” tight end David Njoku said about what Winston is providing a Browns team that seemed to be on the verge of a fire sale as of the final Saturday of October.
Reporters, fans and other outsiders routinely questioned why Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski continued to play Watson as the 29-year-old performed like arguably the league’s worst starting quarterback over the campaign’s first month and a half. Cleveland lost five straight games before Winston entered the lineup, but there’s hope that the first overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft can help the club save its season.
“He’s got so much energy,” center Ethan Pocic said about Winston. “That stuff’s contagious.”
Winston went viral last Sunday due to a couple of his pregame talks that left many social media users laughing. While he nearly tossed a game-sealing interception late in the fourth quarter of the Baltimore contest, he ultimately completed 27-of-41 pass attempts for 334 yards with three touchdowns and no picks en route to earning AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
“He gets you locked in for sure,” wide receiver Jerry Jeudy added about Winston’s pregame speeches. “He gets you turnt. He gets you hype. He’s always going to have a little funny saying in between that gets you joking around and makes sure that you can have fun with this as well.”
As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Browns as 1.5-point underdogs for Sunday’s home game against the 4-3 Los Angeles Chargers. Cleveland notching a win at Huntington Bank Field may be little more than a blip on the radar by Christmas. Still, it could prevent general manager Andrew Berry from selling veteran players for draft assets before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
