Jameis Winston making a strong first impression on Bruce Arians

[Captain Fear]

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One of the key tasks awaiting Bruce Arians when he was named head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was to see if he could salvage former No. 1 overall pick Jameis Winston.

While it’s still really early in the offseason, Arians has been impressed by some of the things he’s seen from Winston on the field.

“It’s amazing. I mean, he was getting the third and fourth reads quickly today,’’ Arians said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “He was off his first read, and that was not the easiest secondary to read. There was a lot of movement from quarters, to single high to man. I was extremely pleased with that part of it. I don’t think the defense got their hands on any of his (passes).

“That last throw, that was the fifth read in that play and he was on it so fast and he could tell me why. It’s one thing to throw a completion, but tell me why you did it. That’s nice.”

Offseason work is still heavily restricted at this point in the calendar and there is only so much teams can do. Nevertheless, Winston has appeared to make a strong first impression on his new coach.

The sentiment appears to be mutual as well.

“One thing about coach B.A. You think he’s sitting back in his golf cart, but he’s communicating with his coaches,’’ Winston said. “He just has that head role so he’s communicating with everybody. He’s letting his orchestra play but he’s orchestrating behind the scenes, telling everybody his thoughts and communicating with the quarterbacks, communicating with (receivers coach Kevin Garver), communicating with coach Byron. He runs the show. Even though they’re the puppets. We’re all on a string, but he’s pulling it.”