Jameis Winston was a backup quarterback who played for Sean Payton from 2020 until 2022, setting the stage for an interesting matchup.
Jameis Winston and Sean Payton started on two opposite ends of the NFC South but eventually ended up together.
Winston has earned plenty of talk during his current stint, delivering one of the biggest upsets of the year against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Coming off that win over Sean Payton’s former quarterback Russell Wilson, the Browns will get a shot at the man himself on Monday Night Football. Plenty have spoken out about Payton’s decision to go with Bo Nix, including Bill Belichick.
However, Payton has proven himself correct as Bo Nix continues to stack up rookie of the year records. If Winston can defeat Payton’s Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football, it might at least give some level of pause on this conclusion.
It will be Winston’s second primetime game in as many weeks, giving fans another up close and personal look at the Cleveland Browns quarterback. Winston was recently directly asked about the elephant in the room with Payton.
Jameis Winston on Sean Payton
Speaking in an interview on “The Rich Eisen Show,” Winston responded to a question about facing Payton once again.
“You can make Sean Payton lament him instilling anything positive in you on Monday night. You can go into [his place] and really wreck that buffet on Monday night,” Eisen said.
Winston responded, giving every expectation of hoping to win the game – but refusing to bite on drawing any emotion into the Payton effect.
“I know he’s going to have a plan and I know we going to have a plan. And it’s about whoever executes that plan to the best of their abilities on Monday night,” Winston said..
In other words, who wants it more will win the game. It won’t be who plans the best. Of course, planning is the head coach’s job so Winston appeared to point to the players on both sides to execute it correctly. It is about discipline from the players – on both sides – to stick to the plan.
Jameis Winston’s production spikes to rarely seen heights since 2019
The backup quarterback has two hands on the starting role for the rest of this year. Despite the situation with Deshaun Watson, Winston has a chance to give the Browns something to cheer for as a spoiler to end the year.
Winston has already done that against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but will have more chances this year. Thus far, it has already been his most productive season since 2019. Winston has thrown for 1266 yards, which is the most since he threw for 5000 in 2019.
He also has thrown for the second most touchdowns of his career since that same season. His next milestone will be to get past the 14 touchdowns he threw under Sean Payton in New Orleans. Ahead of the showdown in Denver on Monday, he has thrown seven touchdowns and four interceptions, per Pro Football Reference.
