BEREA, Ohio — Kevin Stefanski emphasized on Wednesday that Jameis Winston is his starter for the rest of the season, but with an asterisk.
“Yes,” he said. “But as you know, in football we’re all day-to-day.”
It means that the Browns and their fans are in for more fiery pre-game speeches, more post-game lyrics, more booming encouragement and praise, more touchdown passes and probably some interceptions too, and plenty of hearty bell laughs.
Winston’s Wednesday began with the news that he was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his 334-yard, 3 TD performance in the Browns’ 29-24 upset of the Ravens — in his first start for the Browns. Trailing 24-23 with 2:31 remaining, Winston engineered a 9-play, 69-yard drive that ended with a 38-yard touchdown pass to WR Cedric Tillman with 59 seconds remaining. On the game-winning drive, Winston completed 6 of 9 passes for 74 yards with one touchdown.
But for a guy who just improved his record to 35-46, he wasn’t overly enamored with the award, his third career Offensive Player of the Week.
“It feels like one start,” he said. “My main focus is getting back out there and having a great practice today and continuing to lead this offense to do what we’re capable of doing.”
When he strode out to practice on a beautiful fall day in Berea, Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” was blaring over the loudspeakers.
It’s the song Winston quoted in his post-game CBS interview on Sunday, when he said, “You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity (comes) once in a lifetime.”
Unlike Myles Garrett, who got a response from Arnold Schwarzenegger on X after he dressed like him in The Terminator to make a grand entrance at Huntington Bank Field, Winston had radio silence from Eminem, who he says he admires.
“I have not heard from Eminem, but that is, I encourage everyone to just have that mentality, because that’s so true in all of our professions,” Winston said. “Opportunities only come around once and we have to be grateful and receive them with authority and make the most of it.”
His pre-game speech featured a few “I believes” and some “we believes” and some “unwavering faith.” A teammate responded “me too!” and all of his teammates bought in and ran through a proverbial wall for him. Are the pre-game speeches rehearsed?
“Bro, listen, this is who I am,” Winston said. “A lot of people, if you spend time trying to figure out who is this guy, you’re wasting your time, all right? That’s just who I am. I’m not rehearsing things. What I am rehearsing, it’s our plays. If you want to hear me call a play call out, I’ll rehearse that for you. I am doing that in the mirror. I am having my wife call out plays and stuff like that. So if you want to see some rehearsal stuff, find me going over the playbook.”
Safety Rodney McLeod walked by right then and Winston yelled to him about a recent encounter they had over Winston rehearsing his plays.
“Ask Rod what I be doing anyway,” Winston said.
So, Rod, what does Winston do with the rehearsing?
“He listens to the plays in his headphones often like in the early mornings,” McLeod told cleveland.com. “So I caught him one morning and I was like ‘what are you listening to?’ and he was like the plays. That’s a ritual of his that he does to help him learn, recite and be able to process everything.”
His own voice?
“Yes. I don’t know how he records them, but he listens to them. I just thought that was pretty cool. You don’t play this long without having your own little niche, and that’s one of those for him.”
Did McLeod know that Winston has his wife barking out plays?
“Hey, whatever it takes,” he said.
Okay, so Winston’s famous “Eat a W” pre-game speech in Tampa was rehearsed. But that’s the only one he’ll cop to.
“Well, no, that now, the Eat the W, that was something that was just brewing, you know what I’m saying? It started with alphabet soup, then it ended up being pancakes, W pancakes, and then it ended up being eating the W. I’ve always done Eat a W, because alphabet soup growing up in the ‘hood, you’re going to eat alphabet soup. So I’m only eating the W.”
By the end of Winston’s famous pre-game speeches, some of his teammates have satisified their Sunday church obligation.
“(It’s) just being authentic,” Winston said. “I’m always going to have ultimate belief and unwavering faith because that’s my faith, because I know what God has done for me. Wisdom is experience. It’s just that light, it’s that continuous light that I’m going to continue to show that light because I know how far I have came.”
Stefanski has appreciated the energy and positivity Winston brings to the table. A self-described “man of increase,” he’s all about helping his teammates.
“Jameis, as you guys know, he’s the same guy all the time, whether it’s on the phone or in person or at 5:00 a.m. or 5:00 p.m.,” Stefanski said. “I mean, he has a ton of energy, he’s got great enthusiasm for the game. Loves to talk football, loves to talk X’s and O’s. So that was evident. And that’s what the research said when we reached out to former teammates, former coaches. Everybody said the same thing.”
His biggest takeaway from his first conversation with Winston back in March?
“He’s got a great, for lack of a better term, enthusiasm for all things; football, life, you name it,” he said.
And it’s been contagious for teammates who are following his lead, even more so now that he’s starting in place of the injured Deshaun Watson (ruptured Achilles).
“I think it’s just authenticity,” Stefanski said. “I think guys respond to authenticity regardless of what it looks like or sounds like or the content of what you’re saying. I just think he’s being himself.”
Winston showed up for his weekly availability wearing compression therapy socks, and can always be seen doing some kind of stretching or modality in the locker room. He’s so locked in at times, he doesn’t seem to realize it’s an open locker room.
“I’ve always been, ‘hey, I’m going to be the first guy in, the last one to leave,” he said. “That’s just Quarterback 101 and that’s what I’ve learned from coaches, from my father who’s my favorite coach, probably my best coach. So he’s always instilled that into me and that’s required. That is required.”
He was asked about the black, bulky therapy socks.
“Well, yes, just in terms of mentally and physically preparing my body, just seeing veterans in the locker room take pride in their body, understanding that our body is our temple and we have to be ready for Sunday because no one cares about what we’re really going through,” he said. “We have to be ready and mentally and physically.”
He’s mentored players such offensive tackle Dawand Jones, doling out some tough love when he needs it, such as during the Jacksonville game when he missed an assignment. Winston yelled at him on the sidelines, trying to coax the best out of him. Jones got it, and shook his hand after the game in the locker room.
“Well, me and Dawand, we hold each other to a high standard, so I knew that he was going to be prepared and ready to go because he can and probably will be one of the best tackles this NFL has seen,” he said.
He was also Deshaun Watson’s confidante and mentor, and cited Watson’s good two quarters against the Bengals before he went down with the ruptured Achilles. Since Winston’s big game, it’s been used by fans and some analysts as evidence that Watson was the offense’s main problem on the way to 1-6.
“Well, that’s none of my business, other people’s (opinions),” he said. “But I know Deshaun Watson is a great quarterback. It’s unfortunate that his name has to continue to come up because of his injury, but he’s going to bounce back stronger than ever. But my focus, what’s important to me right now, is making sure that we go out there and do even better than what we did last week. And that comes from practicing great Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday to put ourself in the best possible position to execute.”
On Sunday against the Chargers, he’ll have a much stiffer test than the Ravens’ 32nd-ranked pass defense presented, one that was minus two of its best cornerbacks. The Chargers are first in the NFL in points allowed, fourth in red zone defense, and ninth agains the pass.
“When you got Khalil Mack, you have Joey Bosa, you have great interior guys, great linebacker group, great DBs, I know one of ‘em personally, Derwin James, he’s a beast,” Winston said. “But, man, I believe in us. I believe that we’re a great, physical team. I believe in Nick Chubb. I believe in Wyatt Teller, I believe in Ethan Pocic, I believe in Joel Bitonio. Our guys are physical. Our guys are up for the challenge and I think that’s what football is. They’re going to have guys. They got some good guys. I believe in my guys.”
And as they showed against the Ravens, his guys believe in him.
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