Jameis Winston has always been a hard worker, but because of his right shoulder injury that forced him to miss three games last season and play hurt in three others, he's taken it to a new level.

Winston took only two weeks off after the 2017 season and generally works out twice a day. The morning is for weight training and cardio, the afternoons are for field work. The goal is to rebuild his body so it can sustain the punishment of a 16-game NFL season.

He's also sought advice from other veteran quarterbacks on the matter, according to coach Dirk Koetter. No way of knowing their conversation, but a few weeks ago Winston did spend some time with former Packers quarterback Brett Favre at a charity event. Favre made 297 regular-season starts over 19 seasons.

"I talked to Jameis and I know he's put in a lot of study in the offseason and a lot of time," Koetter said. "I just think the main thing that he learned last year is it's hard to make it through a 16-game season at any position without having your body nicked up. He'd been blessed in his career to have never had many injuries, and he had some significant injuries last year and he did a great job of trying to play through it.

"I think he did some research with some veteran quarterbacks on how to get through those injuries, and I know he's doing a great job of taking care of his body. These guys come into the league and they've just always been better than everybody, and now they're playing against all elite players. I mean, Jameis has always been a winner and we haven't won. I know Jameis will always do whatever it takes to help our team win."

It's somewhat ridiculous that the latest collective bargaining agreement prevents players from doing any field or classroom work with coaches until April 16 — particularly quarterbacks.

Instead, they have to make their own arrangements for personal workouts with independent quarterback coaches and arrange throwing sessions with receivers.

Last week, Winston traveled to College Station, Texas, to throw with former Aggies receiver Mike Evans. Winston's former head coach at Florida State, Jimbo Fisher, is now at A&M.

NEW FOCUS? Primarily due to his 3-10 record, Winston took a lot of heat for some of his actions outside the huddle, such as poking Saints rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore which resulted in receiver Mike Evans entering the fray and being suspended for a game.

Winston also was criticized for his passionate pre-game antics, such as licking his fingers and saying he was eating Ws.

Should Winston just remain more focused on his own game?

"I can really see how anybody could make that case," Koetter said. "At the same time, Jameis has to be Jameis. You can't ask any player, or any coach for that matter, to be something that they're not. And that's Jameis' style. Sure, I think to be a great leader, it starts with being a leader of yourself. You have to lead yourself first. But we don't want Jameis to change his personality. That's one of the reasons he was drafted where he was drafted. But at the same time, we want Jameis to be the best quarterback he can be. He wants that, too."