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Daniel Oyefusi, ESPN
BEREA, Ohio — Jameis Winston stood at the center of the Cleveland Browns‘ pregame huddle before last Sunday’s home game against the Baltimore Ravens.
His eyes squinted intently as he animatedly addressed his teammates. Tight end David Njoku was close by, bouncing up and down and nodding in approval.
“I believe!” Winston shouted four times, as his teammates answered back in a call-and-response.
Winston spoke of “unwavering faith,” an apropos message for a 1-6 team about to face an opponent many considered to be the class of the AFC.
Winston, in his first start since Week 3 of the 2022 season, went on to lead the third-largest upset of the season, a 29-24 win over the Ravens. Taking over for the injured Deshaun Watson, who is out for the season with a right Achilles tendon tear, Winston threw for 334 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 59 seconds remaining.
It was an encapsulation of the full Winston experience. On the field: aggressive, daring passes that at times verged on disaster. Off the field: off-the-cuff remarks intended to motivate. In his postgame field interview, Winston gave a nod to rapper Eminem’s diamond-selling hit “Lose Yourself” as a source of inspiration.
The victory ended a five-game losing streak and may have changed the outlook of the remainder of the season for the Browns, who host the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS). This week, coach Kevin Stefanski announced that Winston will continue to start, giving him another chance to rectify what looked like a forlorn season.
“Energy, excitement and faith,” Njoku told ESPN of what Winston has provided the Browns.
Despite helping lead Cleveland to a 4-1 record as starter and a postseason appearance in the wake of Watson’s season-ending shoulder injury last year, Cleveland opted not to re-sign Joe Flacco, who signed with the Indianapolis Colts in the offseason. And aside from Winston’s lack of recent production, the signing of him to a one-year deal worth $4 million brought in a backup whose skill set didn’t align with the spread-based, RPO offense that the Browns sought to build around Watson.
But in Winston, 30, the Browns saw not only a fit on the field but in the locker room.
“I remember talking to Jameis as we were signing him or prior to signing him,” Stefanski said. “Jameis, as you guys know, he’s the same guy all the time, whether it’s on the phone or in person or at 5:00 a.m. or 5:00 p.m. I mean, he has a ton of energy, he’s got great enthusiasm for the game. Loves to talk football, loves to talk X’s and O’s. So that was evident. And that’s what the research said when we reached out to former teammates, former coaches. Everybody said the same thing.”
Winston’s first start in two years was seamless and it helped lift an offense that hadn’t scored 20 points in any of Watson’s seven starts. Winston pushed the ball downfield in a way that the offense didn’t previously, recording eight completions and two touchdowns on passes that traveled at least 15 yards downfield, according to ESPN Research. Watson had just nine such completions and one touchdown in the seven previous games.
On Wednesday, Winston became the first Browns quarterback to be named AFC Offensive Player of the Week since Baker Mayfield in Week 7 of the 2020 season.
“He was very confident in the huddle,” left guard Joel Bitonio said. “He was talking the whole time. Some of the stuff he was saying was a little bit out there, but he was ready to go. And no matter what, we’re coming back the next play. If there was a bad play or a penalty or something like that, we were ready to roll.
“Just a lot of energy. He (brought) a lot of energy. But he’s been like that since he’s been here, so it was expected.”
Winston may have transformed the Browns’ offense but it was his consistency over his first several months in Cleveland that allowed the transition to go as smoothly as it did.
His banter, enthusiasm and day-to-day light-heartedness have been prevalent to all his teammates. During training camp, running back Jerome Ford said Winston “calls plays in the huddle like he has a surprise to tell.”
“He’s got so much energy. That stuff’s contagious,” center Ethan Pocic told ESPN.
Throughout the preseason and before taking over as starter, Winston has often offered the final words to the team’s pregame huddle.
“He gets you locked in for sure,” wide receiver Jerry Jeudy told ESPN. “He gets you turnt. He gets you hype. He’s always going to have a little funny saying in between that gets you joking around and makes sure that you can have fun with this as well.”
Even what are usually the most mundane of mid-week news conferences transform into motivational speeches and double as sermons with Winston.
“I’m not a guy that hangs on the fence,” Winston said. “I’m going to be out in the front, out in the open, and I’m going to be who I am every single day. One of my greatest traits is being authentic, and I think my teammates respect that.”
At 2-6, the Browns’ postseason hopes remain bleak. ESPN FPI gives Cleveland a 7.8% chance to reach the playoffs. But with Winston under center, Cleveland’s offense finally broke through, looking like the unit coaches and players had envisioned.
And amid a five-game losing streak, Winston’s happy-go-lucky perspective has been appreciated even more for a team that has had to withstand a disappointing start to the first half of the season.
“We need the optimism,” defensive end Myles Garrett said. “It’s not like this has been the first time that a team has been down in the hole, better than their record, but they’re not playing up to their standards. So his leadership is optimism. It keeps us grinding, it keeps us looking to the future and holding our expectations high because we know that we can get out of this hole, we just got to do it one game at a time.”