Before being traded to the Cleveland Browns this spring, Jameis Winston was a reserve player with the New Orleans Saints from 2020 to 2023.
Winston worked with coach Sean Payton from 2020 to 2021 and started seven games for the Saints in 2021. The Saints took a 5-2 lead during that time.
Winston and the Browns now face Payton and the Denver Broncos To Monday Night Football in Week 13. Before that match, Payton was asked about his time coaching Winston in New Orleans.
“I enjoyed it,” Payton said Wednesday. “We started the season the year he was our starter – I don’t know what the record was – he got hurt. We played Tampa Bay. He tore his cruciate ligament. I think we could have been 5-2. He's big. He's great in the locker room. I’ve said this before – he has this infectious personality. [He has] He has a smile on his face every day when he is at work. You hear him before you see him – that type of guy. As Drew [Brees] went down first, Teddy [Bridgewater] was there for a while [for] five weeks, then we adjusted something, then with Jameis in the same way.
“I really enjoyed coaching him and having the chance to work with him. He is the ultimate professional. He has natural leadership qualities and you can feel it in him. You have to remember that there were years when he played against us in Tampa. I hated him because he was one of the opposing teams' quarterbacks, but we always had some good battles. When he came to our program, he was a replacement sponge. He tore his ACL again – I think in week 6 [or] Week 7 – and he had a really good season. It will be nice to shake his hand and see him after the game.”
The game will be on Monday televised nationally on ESPN. The Broncos are playing at home are considered favorites in week 13.
