Who is Jameis Winston, the Browns QB filling in for Deshaun Watson?

The Cleveland Browns are off to a discouraging 1-6 start and their outlook went from bad to worse when their starting quarterback Deshaun Watson went down with a season-ending Achilles injury during their Week 7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Of course, it’s an unfortunate injury, but it’s not exactly a huge loss for the Browns, considering Watson had been one of the worst QBs in the league so far this season.

As they now look forward to their Week 8 divisional match against the Baltimore Ravens, the Browns have announced their new starting quarterback.

Jameis Winston to start for Browns vs Ravens

The Browns have decided to start quarterback Jameis Winston against the AFC North leaders on Sunday. As the emergency third string quarterback, Winston came into the Game last week to play the Browns’ final drive after second-year pro Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who’d been filling in for Watson, suffered a finger injury. He completed five of 11 passes for 67 yards, including an eight-yard touchdown to David Njoku.

After a star-studded college career with Florida State, Winston entered the 2015 NFL Draft and was picked first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He spent the next five years with the Bucs, throwing for 19,737 yards, 121 touchdowns, and 88 interceptions in 72 games. It’s the interceptions that were a big problem, canceling out much of the positives Winston accomplished in his time with the Bucs. In 2019, he threw 30 interceptions and the following season, the Bucs dropped him for Tom Brady.

Winston signed with the New Orleans Saints the following year, but was mostly the backup to Drew Brees. The next year, 2021, he was chosen as the starting quarterback for the Saints over Taysom Hill, but suffered a season-ending ACL/MCL injury in Week 8. He was in and out with injuries to start the 2022 season and was eventually named as the backup to Andy Dalton by Week 6. In 2023, he re-signed with the Saints and appeared in just seven Games without making much of an impact.

Winston signed with the Browns in April of this year on a one-year contract. He’ll face the Ravens this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET at Huntington Bank Field. Winston has faced the Ravens just once before in his career when he played for the Bucs in 2018, completing 13 of 25 passes for 152 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception in a 20-12 loss.