Jameis Winston growing up fast for resurgent Bucs

Jameis Winston says he is no Cam Newton and no Drew Brees.

That is fine for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because being Jameis Winston these days is not a bad thing.

The rookie quarterback is growing up fast and showing that Bucs head coach Lovie Smith made the right decision in making him the top pick in this year's draft.

The best thing about Winston is he appears to have left all the bad stuff behind at FSU and shaped himself into quite a formidable pro player.

If the 21-year-old has a fault, it might be that he can get a bit too emotional at times, but that can be contagious in a positive way.

His emotion was on over-charge last week against Atlanta, but Winston was calm enough to lead the Bucs on the game-winning overtime drive, completing three third-down passes.

"I would actually say Jameis might have been a little too emotional at the start of the game," offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter said. "I thought Jameis got off to a little bit of a slow start and missed a couple of throws he can definitely make. But that said, Jameis' competitive spirit showed up more than it has."

Winston is a 21st century man with an old school mentality.

Don't believe it? When was the last time you saw an NFL starting quarterback throw himself into the mix and block for a teammate like he did for Doug Martin last week.

Even the stoic Lovie Smith had to cringe at that one, probably thinking: No, don't do that! ... Wow, great play!

"Jameis wants to help," Koetter said. "We would've been better off with him out of the way, plus he's going to be hurt doing that. It's funny. It's good a good chuckle. It makes for good highlight on TV, but we don't want Jameis blocking on linebackers."

Winston has been pleading with Koetter to design a few running plays for him, but doesn't see himself as someone who can earn his living doing that. Again, he just wants to help.

"I've been trying to talk coach Koetter about putting some quick QB runs in, but I am by no means Can Newton. That guy is a beast. I'm going to stay in my area," Winston said.

Winston is just part of these too-young-to-know-better Bucs, who take on Eli Manning and the New York Giants Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.

The Bucs had five rookies in the offensive lineup at times against Atlanta when they went to a three-receiver set joining Winston and rookie offensive linemen Ali Marpet and Donovan Smith.

Tampa was on an emotional high rallying around rookie linebacker Kwon Alexander, who tragically lost his brother in a shooting the Friday before the game.

But Winston has shown the ability to mix that emotion with a sense of calmness and perspective.

"The main goal is to get better every week, build as a team," said Winston, who is from Alabama, but not far from Atlanta. "Right now, we've been looking good, but we have to keep it going. The league is about longevity. It's always the balance you have to have as a quarterback of being calm and cool. I was calm, but at the same time, starting off the game, that was a home game for me."

In the past three games, Winston has thrown four touchdown passes and passed for 683 yards without an interception. But what he did last week, getting the team to rally around Alexander, won over the hearts of the guys in the locker room.

Winston is also mature enough to tell his teammates not to take the Giants defense lightly just because they allowed 52 points last week against the Saints.

"Drew Brees did that. I'm no Drew Brees," Winston says. "They are coming with a different attitude. They are going to try and play even harder. They are going to rise up to the occasion and we have to be there to match their intensity."

We agree Jameis Winston is not Drew Brees and not Cam and not Eli.

He is Jameis Winston. That's not a bad option these days.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 11:50 PM with the headline "Jameis Winston growing up fast for resurgent Bucs ."