Ryan Fitzpatrick is back! Wait…what? Yes, you heard it here, Fitzy is back. Buccaneers starting quarterback, Jameis Winston, has been suspended for the first three games of the season because of personal conduct. Ryan Fitzpatrick will take the reigns as the starting quarterback with Ryan Griffin taking over as the backup.
Adam Schefter of ESPN was the first to report the news:
NFL is planning to suspend Buccaneers’ QB Jameis Winston the first three games of the season for violating the personal conduct policy, league sources tell ESPN.
ESPN’s Tallahassee host Jeff Cameron initially reported Winston was bracing to be suspended – and he will be.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 21, 2018
Schefter had the details on why Winston was suspended in his latest report:
“The planned suspension stems from an alleged incident with an Uber driver in Scottsdale, Arizona, in March 2016.”
“The league began its investigation in November 2017 when a woman, who identified herself as “Kate,” told BuzzFeed that Winston reached over and grabbed her crotch while waiting at a drive-thru at Los Betos Mexican Food at 2 a.m.”
Winston has had his fair share of instances stemming back to college. An alleged rape case and stealing crab legs are also sitting on his resume. Tampa not only has to be nervous about Winston off the field, he hasn’t played like a former number one overall pick. Winston threw for 3,500 yards, 11 interceptions and 19 touchdowns in 2017. In fairness, Marcus Mariota probably isn’t better but the 2016 NFL Draft may come out of it with zero franchise quarterbacks at the end of the day.
I also owe my fans a big apology for going on the Bucs bandwagon last season. Tampa has one of the best overall rosters in the league but horrendous coaching has done them in. Dirk Koetter needs to go, especially after the instances with Winston on the horizon.
With Atlanta, Carolina, and New Orleans in the division (all three playoff teams) the Bucs really have no chance to make the playoffs without their quarterback to start the season.
