METAIRIE, La – The New Orleans Saints This summer, the quarterbacks developed a routine.
They would each target the middle of three separate squares that were taped together to form a net. Sometimes they’d wOderk the same drill with a hoop instead, moving around from various distances on the field with the intent on getting the football into the small ring.
“I think implementing more of that [has been good], even though I’ve got to get better at those targets,” said starter Jameis Winston, who admitted he wasn’t routinely winning those competitions over teammates Andy Dalton or Ian Book.
Winston had a particular goal for the drills. Winston knew he could easily launch a deep pass, but to be a better passer for this offense, he had to improve his short and intermediate throws.
When he signed with the Saints in March, it was one of his first goals. The idea was to improve his passes from behind the line-of-scrimmage up to 10 yards away.
“I think the biggest thing is giving the receivers a ball they can transition with, opposed to giving them a ball that kind of brings them down,” Winston said. “Coaches always say, ‘Put the ball in front.’ Allowing them to be able to get extra yardage beyond just the throw and the catch. It’s a way to make it easier for them get upfield and get. [yards after the catch].”
Last year’s 53-man initial roster included players such as Ty Montgomery And Lil’Jordan HumphreyWhile Michael Thomas The season began on the physically incompetent to perform list.
Saints add free agent Jarvis Landry First-round pick Chris Olave They bring back Thomas, who is currently recovering from an ankle injury last year but has not yet been able to play.
Thomas was named the 2019 Offensive player of the year. He can run deep routes and excels at running cross-routes and slants. Winston and Thomas have never had the chance to build chemistry in a game. Their only interaction was when Winston was replacing Drew Brees, who was injured in the second half in a 27-13 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles. San Francisco 49ers 2020
Winston was 1-for-5 when he shot Thomas that day.
“He’s got a mean out route,” safety Tyrann Mathieu Winston said it. It’s almost like real gas when Winston throws it. This is most likely from his baseball days. But it’s great to just watch him running around. He can throw every throw.
Winston thought about it this spring as he was recovering from an ACL tear to his left knee. ended his 2021 season. His body took time to adapt to working with deep passes.
Winston was able manage the short and intermediate throws, which were the bread and butter of Brees without overstressing one’s knee.
“I have a plan every offseason of what I want to work on, and this year, probably because of my knee, I was able to work the intermediate game because I wasn’t able to drive the ball down the field as much,” Winston said. “I always was confident in throwing the ball down the field. I just … wanted to improve on my intermediate accuracy.”
From the year 2020, Winston joined the Saints. Tampa Bay BuccaneersHe was coming off three consecutive seasons that were well below the league’s average for short passes. During those seasons, he threw the lowest percentage of passes of under 10 air yards of any quarterback with at least 100 attempts, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
By 2021, his stats had dramatically increased. He kept 67% of his passes at 10 yards or less, compared to 55% for 2019. However, his sample was smaller. Winston suffered the season-ending injury to his knee in the seventh game.
This is just one example showing how Winston developed as a Saints quarterback. Winston only threw three interceptions in 161 attempts for a career-low 1.9.
Ronald Curry, Saints quarterback coach, said that he and Winston looked at the statistics. He pointed out that Winston would counter this positive percentage with deep passes thrown. Both coaches agreed that the statistics showed the differences in Winston’s offense in Tampa and New Orleans.
“The backs never really got out,” Curry said. “It was a big protection team, so he never really had to do that. Here, that was a big part of Drew’s game … You always had [Alvin Kamara]You had [Darren] Sproles, Reggie Bush was there. Their stuff is 5 feet and in. It was almost as if he had to practice one type of play his entire life. And that’s what he’s been working on, and I think he’s been doing a great job of it.”
Said Winston: “This offense, we like to attack teams laterally. Most of my offenses, we were always vertical, vertical threats, heavy play-action, throw the ball down the field.”
Winston already had five seasons of experience by the time he got to New Orleans, but he hadn’t run an offense like this.
“This was actually the first offense that I was in that we played the Canadian concept of football where we’re efficient on first and second down,” Winston said in March, “and I’m grateful that I got a chance to see Drew Brees do that for a year while he was here.”
The Saints open their season at Atlanta Falcons On Sept. 11, Winston will have been 315 days since the injury that he described as the worst of his life. It will also be his second chance to finally move on from the 2019 version of himself – when he led the league in passing yards (5,109), averaged 8.2 yards-per-throw and threw 30 interceptions to 33 touchdowns.
He has pointed out that he didn’t get much time to work with the first-team offense last summer because he was in a quarterback competition with Taysom HillThe injury has forced him to change to tight end for the rest of this season. He spent this offseason healing from it. Due to his sprained foot, he missed significant training camp this summer.
Winston claimed that he had grown and changed even after the injury. Noting that last year was an improvement, he said he was ready to get back on the field in order to build 2021.
Winston said, “I’m an entirely different quarterback today than I was last year with the Saints.” I take pride in knowing and preparing to improve every single year. It’s about understanding the strengths and weaknesses of everyone and being honest about my weaknesses. I am constantly improving myself through practice and daily reflections.