After making the long comeback from a torn ACL that ended his 2021 season prematurely, Saints quarterback Jameis Winston continues to display his grit and determination to compete. Winston reportedly played yesterday’s game against the Buccaneers with four fractures in his back. According to Ari Meirov of Pro Football Focus, although there’s no risk of further injury, Winston is playing through lots of pain and is wearing extra pads to protect the area. 

Winston suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of the team’s Week 1 win over Atlanta. He was escorted to the medical tent on the sideline before returning to the bench. Winston told reporters he was in pain and when asked to specify where, he responded, “Just pain. It was pain everywhere.”

Winston was listed as questionable after being limited all week in practice. The fractures are in the lumbar region of the spine, specifically in the L1, L2, L3, and L4 vertebrae, according to Jay Glazer of NFL on FOX. The team’s medical staff had Winston try out several varieties of pads that would protect that lower back region, but it seems that any measures or precautions are just targeting pain management at this point in time.

While the staff is doing all they can to protect Winston’s health, the offensive line seems to have other ideas. The Saints have rolled with a starting five of James Hurst, Andrus Peat, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, and Ryan Ramczyk in the first two games of the season. Despite getting sacked four times and hit eight times, Winston was able to deliver a close win in Week 1 throwing for 269 yards and two touchdowns. Winston continued to get bombarded by an even tougher Buccaneers defense this week, taking on six sacks and getting hit nine times. The result was far less positive in the loss as Winston could only throw for 236 yards with just one touchdown to three interceptions.

Winston is showing he is a tough, strong football player, but if the Saints have any hopes of keeping the injury-riddled 28-year-old on the field all year, they are going to need significant improvements up front. If the offensive line can’t wait for players like rookie first-round pick Trevor Penning or former Chargers starter Forrest Lamp to come off injured reserve, they may need to figure out a way to scheme protection for their beleaguered quarterback from other positions.

Perhaps getting targets like running back Alvin Kamara and wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith back on the field will help Winston get the ball out of his hands quick enough to avoid so much trauma. Both practiced a bit this week but were forced to sit out the game against Tampa Bay. Getting the offense around Winston healthy may be the key to keeping the ailing quarterback off the sideline for the season.

Jameis Winston has slowly been making progress towards a return to game action. That process will reach another crucial milestone tonight, as he is expected to play “in some capacity” during tonight’s preseason finale against the Chargers (Twitter link via ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler). 

Winston was elevated to the No. 1 role as Drew Brees‘ successor last season, and had an encouraging start to his return as starting quarterback. He won five of his seven starts, throwing 14 touchdowns, three interceptions and posting a passer rating of 102.8. A torn ACL ended his season, however, and derailed the Saints’ offense.

After New Orleans struck out on trading for Deshaun Watson, they turned back to the former No. 1 pick on a two-year deal. Since then, his rehab has been one of the team’s key offseason storylines. During OTAs, it was reported that a return to full health in time for Week 1 was the goal for all parties involved; today’s news would certainly represent another sign of progress that that could happen.

Most recently, the 28-year-old was seen practicing without a knee brace, something which will be noteworthy in the context of his mobility during tonight’s game. He is unlikely to see much playing time, but any snaps in live action will of course be a welcomed sight for the team and an important measuring stick with respect to his regular season readiness.

Come September, Winston will have a healthy Michael Thomas available at the top of a WR depth chart which also includes first-round rookie Chris Olave and free agent signing Jarvis Landry. That quartet should give the Saints significant upside on offense, presuming Winston is able to finalize his rehab in time.

It looks like Jameis Winston has taken a major step in his recovery from a knee injury. The Saints quarterback posted a video on Instagram that showed him practicing without a brace.

When Winston was participating in Saints minicamp, he was often seen wearing a brace on his surgically repaired knee, and reports indicated he was walking with a notable limp. Now, about eight months after tearing his ACL and damaging his MCL, the QB appeared to be practicing without any restrictions. Winston previously stated a desire to continue wearing a brace even once he’s fully cleared to practice, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll stick with that plan.

Winston and the Saints have continually expressed optimism that the QB will be ready to go come Week 1 of the 2020 campaign. However, Winston also cautioned that he’ll still prioritize his long-term health as he looks to make his return.

“We’re taking this process slowly,” Winston said earlier this offseason (via Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com). “It’s about getting better every day. I’m embracing it, and I’m excited to be able to talk football and just keep progressing.”

The former first-overall pick was having a bounceback season while replacing Drew Brees in New Orleans. He went 5-2 as a starter, completing 59 percent of his passes for 1,170 yards, 14 touchdowns, and three interceptions. A Week 8 knee injury ended his season prematurely, but the Saints were still willing to commit to the QB this offseason. New Orleans ended up re-signing the injured free agent to a two-year, $28MM deal, and while he sits atop the depth chart, he’ll see some competition for the starting gig from veteran Andy Dalton.

Jameis Winston isn’t one of the many new faces on New Orleans’ offense, but his absence from the team midway through 2021 will make him seem, in a sense, like a new arrival this fall. He spoke recently about his decision to re-sign with the Saints, which was made within the context of a number of other factors, including his season-ending knee injury. 

When asked about his commitment to stay in New Orleans (despite his injury and the departure of head coach Sean Payton), the 28-year-old said, via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, “I always had faith in my ability to be one of the best quarterbacks in the league… I’m just an optimistic guy, and I played a season where I felt like I improved on some of the areas that I had a lot of doubt in, and I was confident with that. I wish I could’ve finished with this team, with where things were trending.”

The Saints were 5-2 when Winston went down, hampering the team’s offense and ending a campaign in which he put up a 14:3 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Having failed to land Deshaun Watson this offseason, though, they quickly re-signed him to a two-year deal. That leaves him as the undisputed starter for the first time in New Orleans, as the team searches for a long-term Drew Brees replacement. He will re-take his place as the No. 1 with a receiving corps now featuring a healthy Michael Thomas, recent signing Jarvis Landry and first-rounder Chris Olave. 

Much of Winston’s success will depend, of course, on his recovery from knee surgery. Breer notes that he is still targeting training camp as the point at which he will be “full go”. That is in line with the reporting on the matter when OTAs began last week.

However, as Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio details, Winston is still moving with a “visible limp” at this point. While it is true that his ramp-up to full motion is in the early stages, and that much can change between now and mid-July, that news should at least be reason for pause with respect to the team’s optimism he will be fully recovered in time for the start of the season. Winston made it public he intends to continue wearing a brace on the injured knee throughout the campaign, but there is apparently a long way for him to go if he is to resume his level of play from 2021.

The Saints’ offense will look much different at the beginning of the 2022 season than it did at the end of last year’s campaign. One of the most important of those differences is the expected return of a healthy Jameis Winston in time for the start of the year. 

The 28-year-old has been in attendance at New Orleans’ OTAs this week, as noted by the Athletic’s Katherine Terrell (subscription required). The primary reason for doing so, of course, is to continue his ongoing rehab from the knee injury which ended his season in October.

The progress he has made on that front led to optimism that he would be available to start Week 1 this season. Winston himself has maintained that he would be back on the field before training camp, which he has now been able to do. His presence has been marked by incremental improvements in mobility.

“The biggest thing about my specific injury was the meniscus’ he said, noting that the ACL and MCL repair “was a pretty simple procedure. But the meniscus repair has been the biggest limiter for me right now, in terms of moving, rolling out, in terms of certain movements that I’m not able to do just because of the timetable of the recovery.”

Winston is currently wearing a brace which, Terrell reports, he intends to continue using throughout the season. If he continues progressing as he has so far, he should be in line for his first season as the undisputed No.1 QB for the Saints, which will open the door to a resumption of his relatively impressive play at the start of last year. Doing so would become easier, of course, if the team also gets receiver Michael Thomas back from injury, which they expect to take place by training camp. Overall, Winston’s current status could point to a marked improvement in the team’s passing game relative to last season’s performance.