Jameis Winston knows that defenses will pressure him with blitz packages this season, just like the Cleveland Browns did on Saturday night. On Monday, Winston said he welcomes the challenge.
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"It's kind of a common thing when you have a rookie quarterback, you are going to see a lot of pressure," Winston said. "I definitely accept that challenge. Definitely the guys are with me too. When you look back on that film, we look at it as hey man, we saw what we are going to see during the season. That was definitely helping us out."
That challenge could come sooner rather than later. Offensive Coordinator Dirk Koetter said that he expects Dick LeBeau, the Titans' Associate Head Coach, will be aggressive with his pressure packages when the Bucs and Titans meet at Raymond James Stadium for the regular season opener.
"We have matched up a few times," Koetter said of LeBeau, "and rookie quarterback or not he's going to throw some junk at you, especially on third down."
Koetter continued, "We have about 10 million blitzes drawn up on our board and you can't get them all. I would anticipate it's going to be a pressure fest. Like I said, we got the wake-up call for what we need to do."
The Bucs have had their eyes on Tennessee for quite some time. Winston said he began studying Tennessee months ago and Gerald McDoy echoed the same sentiment, saying he first started to look at the Titans when the schedule was released. But first, the team will have to complete its final preseason game, a Thursday night matchup against the Dolphins in Miami.
