TAMPA, Fla. -- If Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston produces another 4,000-yard season this year, a big reason why will be because of Mike Evans.

The receiver, who like Winston, underwent his own transformation of sorts this offseason by losing 15 pounds, is now around 220-225, as light as he was in college. But that isn't just physical. It's been mental too, as a big part of Evans' growth as a receiver has been -- and continues to be -- learning to let go of his mistakes.

"Mike is very conscious of his own performance. Mike wants to be great. No one’s harder on him than him and that’s how it should be," said Bucs coach Dirk Koetter. "He gets disappointed in himself when he doesn’t perform like he knows he’s capable of."

Like last season when Evans had 1,206 receiving yards -- his second-consecutive 1,000-yard season -- and was a key reason why Winston had so much success. But in his mind, it wasn't good enough and there were too many drops -- 11 to be exact, the most in the NFL.

"I played bad," Evans said, pointing out that the team had the fifth-most offensive yardage in the league last year, but were also tied for most penalties in the league [143] and struggled to convert at times on third down.

"I didn't catch enough touchdowns last year, or enough balls," said Evans, whose scoring production fell off from 12 touchdowns in 2014, his rookie season, to three in 2015. "I had opportunities to, but I didn't. But this year, I'm just trying to make the most of my opportunities and be a consistent player."

The problem is when one drop turned into three or four, and it snowballed, which is what offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Todd Monken thinks happened.

"When you watch last year, [the drops] came in bunches,"Monken said. "Usually that’s a sign of mental [errors], in terms of putting too much pressure on yourself, the frustration."

"'It’s a drop, move on, next play.' Coach [Koetter] preaches that all the time -- next play," Monken said. "So I think he’s done a better job of that. Coaches, players, human beings, we’re going to make mistakes, let’s not let it lead to multiple mistakes, multiple drops. That’s counterproductive to moving the football.”

There's no doubt in Monken's mind that the drops impacted Evans mentally last season.

"He’s very competitive, very prideful. And so I think that there’s things that weigh on him. He gets frustrated very easily and he’s gotten better at that, [at] staying even-keeled," Monken said, pointing out that there were other causes of frustration.

"[He was] frustrated with drops, frustrated when his body breaks down, frustrated with a number of things in his life. He wants it to go perfect; life’s not perfect. There’s things in your life like drops, things in your personal life -- your body not feeling right. You’ve got to be able to move on.”

Some of that frustration came to a boil against the Carolina Panthers last season, when Evans was ejected from the game after the two-minute warning for disrespecting an official. Evans had a pass broken up in the end zone by then-Panthers cornerback Josh Norman, and he wanted a pass interference call. Norman later called it a "peasant throwing rocks at a giant."

Evans has made a conscientious effort to tune out the noise and not get baited into trash talk, or even physical altercations with some of the more physical defensive backs in the NFL.

"It's getting easier and easier. Every year it's getting easier for me," Evans said after a joint practice with the Jacksonville Jaguars this summer. "I'm trying to stay level-headed. It's working so far."

He has also worked on the technical aspects of his game -- hand placement and getting his eyes to the level of the ball. There was also an increased commitment to improving his chemistry with Winston, which the two did on their own time in the offseason.

"I think making a commitment to come back here in the summer, I think that was a start," Monken said. "Making a commitment each day, eating right, taking care of your body, making sure you’re hydrating, making sure you can practice. The number one way to get better is to practice and when you can’t practice and you’re not on the field, you’re not going to develop as fast as you can develop. And I think that’s probably been the biggest thing is he’s been on the field."

Winston, who called Evans a "superstar," said the drops and some of the mistakes from last season shouldn't fall squarely on his receiver's shoulders.

"I have to be able to create opportunities for Mike," Winston said. "I missed Mike so many times last year. If you count all the times that I missed Mike last year, he probably would’ve led the NFL in yardage. That’s just how talented he is.”