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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not considering a quarterback change — yet. Despite a career-worst performance that featured five interceptions in an ugly 37-26 loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 6, Jameis Winston is not being benched, according to head coach Bruce Arians.
“No. I look at the reasons why. What happened?” Arians said, via ESPN.com. “If it happens again, yeah, it’ll concern the hell out of me.”
The Buccaneers are heading into the bye week. It seems the team is embarking on its 12th consecutive non-playoff season. At 2-4, the Bucs are two games behind the Panthers for second place in the division and three games behind the New Orleans Saints for the top spot in the NFC South.
Heck, they're also an ugly 0-3 at home and their surprising road win over the Los Angeles Rams in Week 4,which featured a franchise-high 55 points, now feels like a distant memory.
Part of the reason Arians was brought into Tampa was to fix the issues plaguing Winston, who was taken with the top overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft to be the savior of the Buccaneers franchise.
While Winston has had his highs this season, he's also had his share of lows. The 25-year-old quarterback has a dismal 84.9 quarterback rating, ranking below the Denver Broncos' Joe Flacco and the Tennessee Titans' Marcus Mariota, who was finally benched during the team's 16-0 shutout loss to the Broncos in Week 6.
The team's only other quarterback on the roster is Ryan Griffin, who has yet to throw a pass during his seven seasons in the NFL. In other words, the Bucs don't have any other viable options.
Although Arians isn't ready to pull the plug on Winston just yet, it's looking more and more unlikely that he'll enter next season as the team's starting quarterback.
