Jameis Winston gets his former team on Sunday, and he would not let the week turn into a look back. Asked Wednesday how much he has changed since his four seasons with the New Orleans Saints, the New York Giants quarterback kept returning to the same idea. “Forget what’s behind and press forward to what’s ahead, right? And that is what my focus on,” Winston said.
The 3-1-1 Giants lead the NFC East and host the 1-4 Saints at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, October 18, at 1 p.m. EDT. New Orleans has lost three straight, all at home, most recently 23-13 to the Minnesota Vikings.
“My heart and soul is with Who Dat”
Winston signed with New Orleans in April 2020 and spent most of the next four seasons as a backup, with a three-game run as the starter at the start of 2022 before back and ankle injuries. He said he never stopped believing he would be a starter again. “Of course. I dreamt of it, and now it’s here, right? So I’m grateful for that,” he said.
He was warm about the place he left. “Love that organization, man. My heart and soul is with Who Dat, you know, but I’m grateful to be a New York Football Giant, and the New York Football Giants have given me a privilege to be their starting quarterback,” Winston said. “I’m gonna honor that and do my very best at that.”
Asked about his favorite part of those years, he pointed to the people and to the man who built those teams. “Mickey Loomis is gonna go down as one of the all-time greatest GMs,” Winston said, before running through a list of former teammates that included Cam Jordan, Demario Davis, Drew Brees, Taysom Hill, Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas, Terron Armstead and Mark Ingram, plus coach Sean Payton. “As a young football lover, you get impacted by that, and you add that to your game whichever way that you can.” His praise of Loomis comes in the same week that Saints owner Gayle Benson called her team’s start unacceptable.
“1% better” every day
Winston took over in Week 2 after Jaxson Dart’s season-ending knee injury on the opening drive in Los Angeles, and the Giants are 2-0-1 in his three starts since. They beat the Tennessee Titans and the Arizona Cardinals at home, then rallied from 14 points down in the fourth quarter at Washington to force a 27-27 overtime tie. After a first half in which he completed seven of 16 passes for 72 yards and lost a fumble, Winston led four full second-half drives that all ended in points.
He said the coaching staff deserves credit for building the offense around Malik Nabers and the rest of the Giants’ playmakers. “Football can be very simple. When you say, ‘Hey, this is who we have. How can we make them look good?’ We make them look good, we in turn will look good,” Winston said. “Hats off to those guys upstairs working their tail off day in and day out.”
One reporter noted that the Giants are 3-0 at home for the first time since 2008. Winston credited the crowd at MetLife and said the team has to keep that energy going. Sunday is the Giants’ last home game before they visit the Houston Texans and then take their Week 8 bye.
Ball security and the “Jameis Winston experience”
Fumbles have been a problem for New York in recent weeks, and Winston did not hide from it. “The conversation is be doers of being intentional with ball security,” he said. “We had experiences that came up that we are focused and that we’re driven to fix.”
He also had an answer ready when asked about the phrase fans use for his rollercoaster style of play. “My take on the Jameis Winston experience is that I am called to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth,” he said, adding that he wants to lift up everyone he comes in contact with. “People can say whatever they want to say, but my intention is to be a man of increase.”
The Giants opened the week with a long injury report, including edge rusher Abdul Carter (calf) and both starting tackles, Andrew Thomas (groin) and Jermaine Eluemunor (calf), missing Wednesday’s practice. Thursday’s session will show how much protection Winston can count on against the team that let him go.
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