New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston has debunked the notion that the upcoming Week 8 clash against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be a ‘revenge game' for him.

Winston notably spent five seasons with the Buccaneers before leaving for the Saints during last year's free agency period. The Buccaneers then elected to sign free agent Tom Brady to be their new starting quarterback, and as one would say, the rest is history.

Earlier this season, there was much talk heading into Matthew Stafford's start against the Detroit Lions and Tom Brady's start against the New England Patriots that they each would have a ‘revenge game' mentality for their respective matchups. For Winston in his upcoming clash with Tampa Bay, he is not necessarily entertaining such storylines but is rather treating this matchup the same as he would for any other one, which he touched on during a press conference ahead of the game.

“No, I don't see it as revenge,” Winston said. “I see it as a division opponent that we need to beat, a good opponent coming up in our house in front of our fans, trying to beat us.

“Sure, I'm playing against the old squad, but I love this game. I'm trying to go out there and beat everybody we play, not matter who it is… Anyway I can do that, win games, I'm up for that and yes this is an opponent where I've been there and done that with this team, but I want to win football games and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the next opponent and that's who we need to beat.”

Winston surely watched as Brady led the Buccaneers last season to their second Super Bowl win in franchise history, which, along the way, included a win over the Saints in the NFC divisional round.

Winston was not bitter over seeing the Buccaneers claim a Super Bowl win a season following his departure but was rather pleased to see his former teammates come out on top at the end of the campaign.

“No, I was very happy for the guys that put in a lot of years there with me, for them to get there and end up on top,” Winston said. “I was very happy for my (former) teammates, but it's this year now, our next opponent is them, so that's who we are going to beat this week.”

A win for Winston and the Saints in Week 8 would move them to a half game back of the Buccaneers in the NFC South standings.