Test Yourself

August 8th, 2015
ESPN and NFL Films analyst Ron Jaworski  talks training camp interceptions and "America's Quarterback."

ESPN and NFL Films analyst Ron Jaworski talks training camp interceptions and “America’s Quarterback.”

Joe knows Bucs fans got nervous, and haters of “America’s Quarterback,” Bucs signal-caller Jameis Winston, celebrated that Jameis had six interceptions in his first week of his first NFL training camp.

Former Super Bowl quarterback Ron Jaworski said that is nonsense. “Jaws,” who works as an analyst for both NFL Films and BSPN, said now is the time for young Jameis to throw picks and learn what he can and cannot get away with.

Joe had the pleasure of chatting with Jaws yesterday at One Buc Palace and Joe asked him about Jameis and his aggressive mentality when it comes to throwing the ball. Jaws said there is a time and place for testing your arm and that time is now.

Joe: Alterraun Verner was saying a thing he likes about Jameis is that he is not timid. He’s not afraid to make a throw; not afraid to attack after an interception and that timid quarterbacks, when the pressure is on, cannot respond.

Jaws: There is a real fine line between a gunslinger and reckless. It is a really fine line. We have all seen Brett Favre the gunslinger but at times he got reckless and it hurt him. I remember the playoff game up in Philadelphia where he got reckless with the football.

So I want a gunslinger, aggressive attitude. And maybe to put a story behind that, one of my old coaches who is in the Hall of Fame, Sid Gilman, used to say, “In training camp, test yourself. In preseason, test yourself. See the throws that you can make consistently and those that you can’t make consistently. So when you get to the regular season and you think there is a throw there you can make, and you missed it three times in the preseason, don’t get carried away and think you can stick it in there. Know what you can do.”

So that’s what you can do in training camp. That’s what you can do in the preseason. So I am not that concerned about interceptions in the preseason. In fact I read an article this morning that Aaron Rodgers had five interceptions in training camp. I read the article, and they are testing themselves. They have new receivers, guys who are working on you and you want to get a feel for them. But you have to test your talent so you know what you can do but more importantly, what you can’t do.

That is a helluva line by Gilman. Test yourself early and often now so that you have an idea what you can get away with in the regular season, and what you cannot get away with.

And clearly Gilman knew what the heck he was talking about when it came to offense.

34 Responses to “Test Yourself”

  1. BuccaneerBonzai Says:

    Makes all the sense in the world to me. I fully expect Winston to throw picks anyway. Gunslingers do that.

    In my book, he can treat this whole season as Training Camp. Take risks. Get better.

    There’s little chance of doing anything big this year anyway, so go balls to the wall.

  2. BuccaneerBonzai Says:

    Remember the dude from the Broncos years ago, and the Bucs traded for his rights? I’m distracted right now and his name escapes me, but he threw a lot of picks.

    But he won games regardless.

    The first couple years, that’s what I expect of Winston, though losing a few this year is okay with me. I don’t have high expectations for THIS YEAR.

  3. BlogTalkFootball Says:

    I saw enough positives at training camp yesterday to see us have a winning season if we can stay healthy.

  4. NoBucsGiven Says:

    I said this same exact thing a few days ago. Now is the time to learn the speed of the NFL. He’s learning what he can and can’t get away with. By this point don’t you think everyone has beaten into his head not to throw INTs

  5. NoBucsGiven Says:

    Bonzai- jake Plummer

  6. BuccaneerBonzai Says:

    Joe, you notice how Johnny Manziel is doing? I was never a big fan myself, even less so after you crammed him down our throats last year, but the kids looks really, really good right now.

    I could see him earning a starting role, if he hasn’t already. Still has the wind up, but man, his ball placement is spot on mostly.

  7. Nole on Sat.-Bucc on Sun. Says:

    Appreciate that insight Blogtalk,living in Orlando limits my ability to make these practices but I like those reports bro.

  8. Trubucfan22 Says:

    Jaws is exactly right. Winston, coming from college needs to adjust to the nfl speed. Throws he got away with in college he will learn he wont be able to in the nfl. Its part of the learning process. Interceptions are overrated. Let the kid whip the ball around and let him play his game. Let him be aggressive and throw in tight windows, and into double coverage. Sooner or later he will find the perfect amount of zip or touch to beat he defense. Let him take the tome to learn these things. Success will come, this is the year of learning for winston.

    IMO thats the biggest thing that kills QBs. They get drafted high and are expected to be perfect from the get go. They are taught to never hrow interceptions. Never take risk, take what the defense gives you. Ef that. Be aggressive learn what you can and cant do. And the things you cant do, step up your game and learn a way to do those things you couldn’t do before.

  9. Nole on Sat.-Bucc on Sun. Says:

    Real talk Trubucfan.

  10. Harry Says:

    The thing that surprises me is not the number of picks JW has thrown, not when I read about picks thrown by Luck and Rodgers (and adding in the common sense philosophy of the O-mastermind Sid Gilman), but that Mariota has thrown NONE?!?! WTF? There is definitely something more to that story

  11. The original "Kevin" Says:

    Hes a rookie. Hes going to throw picks. I cant wait to see what both qbs look like under koetter.

  12. Nole on Sat.-Bucc on Sun. Says:

    Lol Harry they taking it easy with fella man.

  13. Harry Says:

    @Nole,
    Ken Whisenhunt does a good job with QBs, IMO (not sure he is a great HC). So I wonder what the game is there – but there definitely is one. One can only take it “easy” just so much with a rookie QB and end up NOT having him ready for when the real bullets are flying in a few weeks. I have total faith in both JW and Mr Koetter. It will be very interesting to watch each QB develop.

  14. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Coaching will also make a difference…..I recall how strict Schiano was with turnovers and in particular with Glennon….I think he struck fear into Glennon’s game……many throws that Glennon probably could have made, he ate it or checked down or threw it away to avoid turnovers.
    Coaches (within reason) must let Jameis be himself…and that means “sling it”

  15. Capt.Tim Says:

    Not afraid of interceptions. Afraid of a QB who isnt allowed to develop.
    Sling it,Jameis. Sling it.

  16. Joe Says:

    I could see him earning a starting role, if he hasn’t already.

    He doesn’t have much competition. 🙂

  17. Nole on Sat.-Bucc on Sun. Says:

    I second that notion Cap. And Harry not that I’m overly concerned with the career of that other guy but I think I would be more inclined to being more optimistic about his potential were it not for two previous prototypes in Dennis Dixon and Darrin Thomas that came from that system. I mean when I watch video of all three I don’t see much difference. The former two as you already know can’t sniff a job in this league.

  18. BlogTalkFootball Says:

    Glennon has a much slower delivery than Winston. If he could get his 3 step drop to look like Winston, he would have a better chance at being someone’s starter. Even my wife commented on it at the practice yesterday.

    Hope – one practice a year is all we can usually do. We live in Citrus county. Almost 2 hours away. But come game day, we will be there!

  19. BlogTalkFootball Says:

    Hope = Nole…
    Damn autocorrect!

  20. Nole on Sat.-Bucc on Sun. Says:

    That’s what time it is Blog I commend that dedication man.

  21. McBuc Says:

    Mariota it was something like seven for 12 the other day. He does not seem to be throwing as many balls as Winston

  22. Joe Says:

    Ken Whisenhunt does a good job with QBs

    Joe isn’t so sure about that. He’s been living off of Ben Roethlisberger for a long, long time.

    When Whiz was in Arizona, the only time they had success with a quarterback (Kurt Warner), Todd Haley was the offensive coordinator.

    Whiz was brought to Nashville to save Jake Locker, who is currently out of football. Mariota will make/break Whiz’s career.

  23. Buc1987 Says:

    I have NO faith in Mariota’s abilities!

  24. Jody Says:

    Why do you want int’s? He won’t do good in the nfl. He sucked in college and will blow in the nfl. ACC football is weak as high school. Put your money where your mouth is. Winston alone will cost us games a lot of games could have had Mariota. I’ll bet each person that doubts $500 that Winston loses game against Tennessee because of picks he throws? Come on Warrick dumb and A hole on everyday put your money where your mouth is?

  25. @Broy3434 Says:

    Everyone talking up jaws forgot he ranked him dead last in his 1-32 Qb rankings. Sorry but he’s immediately better than Geno smith among others

  26. Buccfan37 Says:

    You meant $5 didn’t you?

  27. @Broy3434 Says:

    yeah Jody…..get the hell off this site. You’re an absolute loser. Go root for Matt Ryan. BTW JAMEIS BEAT SEC AUBURN BY HIMSELF IN THE TITLE GAME. BE MORE WRONG I DARE YOU

  28. Fsuking Says:

    Jody where do u want to meet for the bet? I’ll bump it up to a grand. If Jameis throws a 4th quarter pick and we lose, the $ is all yours. If not, u have to cease all football thought and opinions.

  29. Abdominal Snowman Says:

    LOL!!! Jody!! You need to lay off the Narcotics. Jameis is the winningest QB in college football. Yea so his INTs lost him so many games right? FYI (because you obviously didn’t pay attention to college football) Jameis only lost 1 game in his two years. It takes more than one player to win or lose games, but when it mattered most and the game was on the line at the end, Jameis won EVERY SINGLE TIME! I’ll take those odds.

  30. LakelandBuc Says:

    Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota both are in good hands, but the Titans have a better quality of offensive minds than the Bucs. But you can’t teach talent and that’s what Jameis has, he has pure talent as a QB.I’m looking for great things from Jameis, he will throw picks. But then again, which QB hasn’t thrown picks? I watched Dan Marino chunk it at Pitt, and he was throwing picks all over the place. He threw 69 picks at Pitt and another 252 in the NFL, but he was never gun shy. And he went on to have an Hall of Fame career,he lived off the deep ball. He didn’t have checkdowns in his playbook, and no one can name 2 of his TE’S. But everyone knew Mark Clayton, Mark” Super” Duper, Nat Moore. So Jameis picks is not a concern, it’s time to concern yourself when he’s afraid to make certain throws.

  31. '74 bucs fan Says:

    Hey Jody -Winston sucked in college? Thanks for sharing and for leaving the readers here with an intriginig question: you either don’t watch football, have serious vision issues, or are an absolute and complete moron!? Would you mind letting us know which one it is? Can’t wait for your response.

  32. '74 bucs fan Says:

    $500 says its all 3.

  33. Harry Says:

    “…Mariota will make/break Whiz’s career.”.

    Absolutely, completely correct! And if Whiz is protecting Mariota’s pysche by throwing soft D at him, they are both doomed. With 11 on 11 drills in pads, there is no way a rookie QB should have ZERO interceptions! No way. None.

    Speaking for TBBF, who speaks for Pablo:

    Pablo wonders (Pablo prays) if Lovie is being crafty like a Mexican Underground Railroad and has an second motive for throwing all of these blitzes at Jameis. Sure Pablo thinks they will help JW. But Pablo also thinks that since Lovie is known to prefer NOT to blitz, Pablo hopes the Bucs are practicing many blitzes to throw at the Mariota so he will feel like he is crashing on the surf in Maui. Pablo thinks that would be smart. Pablo thinks it is as simple as that!

  34. DrFeelgood Says:

    If he sucked in college, he wouldn’t have been the #1 pick. What a joke!! I’ll take that bet. If you dare!! YOU put your money where YOUR mouth is!! Both QBs were great in college, which is why they went #1 and #2. For the press to say Mariotta hasn’t thrown any picks is WAY too suspicious. When we read that Aaron Rodgers and Andrew Luck are throwing picks, it’s obvious that they are either spoon feeding Marcus or outright lying. The funny thing is, when Joe calls Jameis “America’s Quarterback”, think about it…..has the media ever been so concerned with INTs (that’s interceptions, Jody) before Jameis arrived in the NFL? Think about it…….and LOVE IT!!! Go Bucs!!