Jameis Winston played four seasons with the New Orleans Saints, first as a backup to Drew Brees, then as Brees’ immediate successor.
But he only started 10 of the 21 games for the Saints between 2020-23 because of Brees’ presence, his injuries and a coaching change.
Now he’s the Giants’ starter after Jaxson Dart’s season-ending knee injury as the New York Giants (3-1-1) host the Saints (1-4) on Sunday afternoon. Winston is 2-0-1 as the starter in potentially his most extended opportunity since being Tampa Bay’s No. 1 quarterback from 2015-19.
“I dreamt of (being a starter again). And now it’s here,” Winston said. “So I’m grateful for that. I love (the Saints organization). Man, my heart and soul is with “Who Dat”, but I’m grateful to be a New York Football Giant. The New York Football Giants have given me the privilege to be their starting quarterback. And I’m going to honor that and do my very best at that.”
Winston was thrust into the lineup when Dart was injured during a Week 2 road loss to the Rams.
“It’s tough to just kind of jump in there when the offense is built probably for a different quarterback,” New York coach John Harbaugh said. “So, I think he did a really good job, but it was really tough. It was awkward, and he fought through it and kept his confidence. He kept his poise and found a way to win football games.
“Now we’re starting to get adapted a little bit to the game plan and what we’re doing and getting reps on things that are more Jameis-type things. So, I think we’re going to keep getting better.”
The Giants leaned more heavily on Winston last week than they had previously and he responded by passing for 326 yards and three touchdowns in leading the team back from a 14-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter to escape Washington with a 27-27 tie. He passed for 254 yards and all three touchdowns after halftime.
New York is 3-0 at home, including a 28-20 season-opening win vs. the Cowboys, the only full game Dart played.
The Saints played their last three games at home and lost all three, prompting owner Gayle Benson to publicly call the team’s performance “not acceptable to me” and to say she was committed “to making the decisions necessary to improve this team.”
Second-year head coach Kellen Moore and quarterback Tyler Shough concurred with the owner’s assessment of the team’s performance.
“She wasn’t saying anything that wasn’t already known,” Shough said, adding that the players and coaches were already working to stop the slide.
After the game Sunday, the Saints will fly to Paris to face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 25, then have their bye week, meaning they won’t play at home again until Nov. 8 against the Cleveland Browns.
During the final nine quarters of the three-game homestand, New Orleans turned the ball over eight times, including three interceptions and two fumbles by Shough.
“Tyler’s done a lot of good things, but we’ve had a couple of turnovers that we’ve got to learn from,” Moore said. “We’ve got to understand that sometimes it’s not a bad thing to punt in a certain situation if it’s a challenging situation, and we’ve got to grow from that.”
Three Saints starters missed practice Wednesday — linebacker Kaden Elliss (calf), defensive lineman Nathan Shepherd (illness) and wide receiver Chris Olave (illness).
Four Giants starters missed practice — linebacker Abdul Carter (calf), safety Tyler Nubin (neck) and tackles Jermaine Eluemunor (calf) and Andrew Thomas (groin).