Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston is gutting it out against the Panthers.

Or shouldering through.

But it is clear he is having to work extra hard and making concessions due to his shoulder.

On a third-and-11 in the second quarter, Winston threw the ball 15 yards downfield for a completion. To do so, he exerted extra body rotation that is consistent with rotator cuff weakness. And the throw was still wobbly.


This morning, we said the new injury Winston suffered last week against Buffalo was possibly a rotator cuff strain in his throwing shoulder.

It appears to be playing out in the first half today in a game the Panthers lead 10-0 at the break.

Winston is not stepping into throws, and his not transferring his weight normally to his front foot on his follow through is a mechanism of his original AC joint sprain suffered two weeks ago. The lack of strength on downfield throws is due to the rotator cuff injury.

By our count, Winston has gone deep on just two of his 18 passes. Coming into today, he led the league in intended air yards.


This likely cuff strain on top of the AC joint injury will not lead to surgery or long-term consequences but can affect him for several weeks. It is difficult to make downfield throws with any accuracy with Winston’s combination of issues.

He is a gamer, so he will finish this game. But look for the Bucs to continue to modify the offense with shorter passes.

Our initial post at 9:40 a.m. PT:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter may have taken advantage of semantics this week when he said Jameis Winston did not suffer a “setback” to his throwing shoulder in last week’s game against the Buffalo Bills.


But he probably wasn’t lying. Not exactly.

Koetter was simply being slightly more truthful when in an interview on Sirius XM on Friday night he said Winston “kind of re-injured” his shoulder.

According to Keotter, the injury against the Bills took place when Winston was sacked in the second quarter,

A review of video does not appear to show a mechanism consistent with the AC joint aggravation he had suffered the week before. Instead, getting the arm hit and stopped mid throwing motion indicates a high risk of rotator cuff strain. Thus, it makes sense they were resting his arm this week.


Winston did not throw in the first two practices this week but was full-go leading the offense on Friday and is expected to start today against the Panthers.

So Koetter’s words on Sirius – “No setback. He kind of re-injured it” – is consistent with video. What isn’t being said is this is the same shoulder but a different injury.

He bears close watching today for any lack of accuracy and power.