Jameis Winston understands that playing time is anything but certain in the New York Giants’ quarterback room.
With Russell Wilson brought on to be the starter in 2025, the team moved back into the first round and drafted Jaxson Dart to be the franchise passer of the future, a loose date that could come next year, or even later this year depending on how things go and how desperate head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen are to save their obs.
Those are all things that Winston, now preparing for his 11th NFL season, cannot worry about, because he simply will not worry about.
“I focus on what I can do. And what I can do is come to work with the intention to get better every single day,” he said. “Not concerning myself with the room, seeing how I can serve the room, but my job is to be the best Jameis Winston that I can be. And Jameis Winston incorporates being a leader, peppering on the young buck, learning things from the older veterans, assisting the older veterans, learning from the three-year quarterback that’s been in this room. It encompasses a lot. But I stay focused on what I would love, and what I would love is to be my very best.”
Such a poignant response to such uncertainty is something that has become so on-brand for Winston, who entered the NFL more than a decade ago with questions about his character, and has since developed into one of the more beloved characters in the league.
“I’m grateful that I can bring joy to the game,” he said. “I’m grateful that through my hard work and effort on the football field, people notice me for my character. That’s just something that comes with it. This is the greatest game in the world. So, we need to be able to drop our hair a little bit and notice that everyone has their own individual role. And I know what I’ve done in this NFL league in terms of playing football, and I’m grateful that I had that experience.
“But I also know that when I first came into this league, I wasn’t looked upon as a man of high character, I wasn’t looked upon as that team-oriented guy. I had this perception of me that just wasn’t true. Through my course of diving in and growing every single year, I’ve proven myself to be who I am. I think that is the greatest compliment that someone can give you is that you’re truly who you are, despite the character or the giggles. I think if you ask any of my teammates, any of my coaches who I am, they would say, ‘Jameis is truly who he is.'”
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