DENVER — It’s weird to have to say you’re sorry after setting the Browns single-game franchise record with 497 passing yards and throwing four touchdown passes, but that’s exactly what Jameis Winston had to do.
That’s because to go along with all of those historic yards and gutsy touchdown passes, he threw two pick-sixes that cost the Browns the game, and a third interception with 34 seconds left to seal the Broncos’ 41-32 victory.
“Yes, I did (apologize),” he said afterwards. “It was my fault. There’s evidence. Two touchdowns. Two touchdowns by the defense. Pick sixes. Yeah. I’ve been here before. I’ve got to play better, and I am.”
Winston (34 of 58 , 497 yards, 4 TDs, 3 INTs) was asked if he’s been reassured that he’ll get the chance to to continue on, and start next Sunday in Pittsburgh. The Browns, who dropped to 3-9, are expected to stick with him, but Kevin Stefanski wasn’t asked after the game. Winston paused for a few seconds after answering.
“I will be better for this team, for my family, for this organization,” he said. “That’s the most important thing.”
Winston’s backbreaking pick-six came with 1:48 left and the Browns trailing 34-32 after a field goal by the Broncos with 2:54 remaining. He fired a ball to the short left for Elijah Moore, and cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian undercut the route and picked it off, returning it 44 yards for a touchdown that produced the final margin.
“Bad throws,” Winston said “It was a bad throw. Bad throw.”
Despite a gutsy, gunslinging, never-say-die performance, Winston couldn’t find much good in anything he did, including two TD passes to David Njoku, a 70-yard TD pass to Jerry Jeudy and a 24-yard TD pass to Nick Chubb.
“Yeah, man, this was a tough one, man, in front that the whole world, in front of the whole world,” Winston said. “I messed it up for us in front of the whole wild world. But I’m going to continue to get better. We’re going to put this one behind us and, Lord willing, go to Pittsburgh and finish strong. Finish. It’s about finishing. It’s about showing up when you need to show up most. That’s what great players do. I believe I’m a great player, and I have to continue to exemplify that consistently over and over, play after play.”
Kevin Stefanski acknowledged that turning the ball over is unacceptable.
“I think as a team, you have to win the turnover margin,” he said. “That’s the first key to these games. It’s hard to go on the road and be a good football team if you turn the ball over like we did, and that’s just the truth.”
Moore took at least partial blame on the decisive final pick-six.
“So what happened was when he jumped up and got it,” Moore said. “I didn’t know if my hand touched him. So that was what had me, like did I touch him, did I not? And then my coach is like, ‘touch him again.’ So it was just, I got to do a better job.”
Winston’s first pick six came with 1:38 left in the half when defensive end Nik Bonitto, who started out covering David Njoku, read Winston’s eyes and moved over to Jordan Akins, the intended receiver, and picked off the ball, racing 71 yards to the house for the TD. That made it 21-10 Broncos, but Winston stormed back with an 11-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a 4 yard touchdown to David Njoku with 13 seconds left in the half to close to 21-17.
Winston couldn’t even find joy in the 70-yard TD to Jeudy that came one play after Marvin Mims Jr.’s 93-yard score.
“That doesn’t matter,” he said. “It doesn’t matter. It’s about finishing. It’s about executing when your team needs you the most. I take pride in that. I’m going to keep working. I’m going to fix it. I apologized to the guys, I know, but I’m still going to give glory to the Lord. Nothing’s going to change from a mental perspective. But the physical perspective, I’m going to continue to work and I will be better, especially in the fourth quarter where you have to be the best.”
What will he do this week to eliminate the mistakes?
“You get better,” he said. “You make the play when it matters the most. That’s what great quarterbacks do. Make the play.”
Does it make it more frustrating considering that he believes he’s come a long way from the player who threw a ton of picks earlier in his career?
“Yeah, I am a better player,” he said. “But in times like this, it’s an opportunity to continue to glorify the Lord even through the toughest circumstances. I know I’m better than this. I know. I’m just praying for the Lord to deliver me from pick sixes. That’s just, that’s not me. A phenomenal game, offense did some great things, but I messed it up.”
With a short week and a visit to the first-place Steelers on Monday, what is process and mindset heading into the next game?
“What it is is simple,” he said. “It’s one play at a time. It’s prayer. It’s asking why. It’s more prayer. It’s asking for deliverance of that. It’s just going to work. It’s being accountable for letting your teammates know I’m going to bounce back, and being about it. That’s the easiest way.”
Winston complimented receiver Jeudy for his outstanding, career-high 235-yard performance — in his “revenge game” against the Broncos, who drafted him No. 15 overall in 2020 and then never showcased him the way he believed he deserved. They traded him to the Browns in March for a fifth- and sixth-round pick.
“Jerry coming back to Denver, obviously a lot of emotion in that,” Winston said. “For him to go out and perform the way he did. What does that say about him?
“He’s phenomenal, man. We knew at the beginning of the week what time it was. He was hungry. He was preparing. He was ready to get back here and show up and show out and he did that. It’s important. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get this win for him, but I’m happy that he had a career day. I’m happy that he did amazing. But he’s an amazing receiver.”
Still, he put the onus on himself for spoiling the homecoming.
“It’s tough for any team to win when you have two defensive touchdowns that the quarterback gave them,” Winston said. “Defense played good, offense played well. I didn’t do a great job.”
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