Jameis Winston's 3-TD start gives Browns some belief, momentum heading into matchup with Chargers

Updated Oct. 31, 2024 6:36 p.m. ET

Associated Press

CLEVELAND (AP) — Jameis Winston doesn't plan the fiery, sometimes funny and always emotional pregame speeches he delivers to teammates. The animated quarterback prefers to let his Sunday sermons happen naturally.

“I’m not rehearsing things,” he said.

Winston likes to wing it. He seems to like playing that way, too.

One week after providing the Browns with a badly needed jolt by throwing three touchdown passes in his first start in more than two years, Winston will get the chance to do it again on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers (4-3) and the NFL's stingiest defense.

As debuts go, his performance in Cleveland's 29-24 upset of Baltimore was historic and also vintage Winston.

His 334 yards passing were the most by any of the 39 quarterbacks who have started for the Browns (2-6) since their 1999 expansion rebirth. But if not for the Ravens dropping several potential interceptions, Winston might not even be starting this week.

Winston's game — in the aftermath of Deshaun Watson's season-ending injury — earned him AFC offensive player of the week honors and something of an endorsement from Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, who said the plan is for the 30-year-old to start the rest of this season.

“But as you know,” Stefanski said, "in football we’re all day to day.”

That's particularly true in Cleveland.

The Browns started five different QBs last season, reinforcing the need to have a quality one behind Watson. Once the team passed on re-signing Joe Flacco, who led it to the playoffs a year ago, Winston became the plan at backup.

Winston's talent has never been questioned. The No. 1 overall draft pick in 2015 has a powerful arm and the pocket elusiveness to keep plays alive — or kill them.

In 2019 with Tampa Bay, Winston led the league in yards passing (5,109), yards per game (319) and interceptions (30). He takes chances, and sometimes they backfire.

Even in the afterglow of last week's win, Winston acknowledged he's a “great” quarterback while providing a caveat.

“I am certain when I am making great decisions, one play at a time, I am a great NFL quarterback,” he said.

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh was impressed with Winston's ability to jump-start Cleveland's offense (the Browns scored 20 points for the first time this season) against a Baltimore team coached by his brother, John Harbaugh.

“Played a great game, top-flight quarterback,” said Jim Harbaugh, whose defense is allowing just 13 points per game. "Have always had a ton of respect for him. I don’t know if the offense changed significantly, but he operated extremely well moving the team and playing the game. I’ve always been a fan of his game.”

Winston has won over teammates in Cleveland since he arrived. He typically is the first player at the facility in the morning and one of the last to leave.

His impassioned pep talks, whether in the locker room or huddle, also have been well received.

They've come in many forms; Winston is as comfortable reciting Bible verses as rap lyrics. Last week, he left the field after quoting Eminem's “Lose Yourself” during a TV interview. The message was that "you only get one shot.”

“I encourage everyone to just have that mentality because that’s so true,” Winston said. "In all of our professions, opportunities only come around once, and we have to be grateful and receive them with authority and make the most of them.”

Fond memories

Cleveland has a special place in Harbaugh’s heart.

Not only did his first NFL touchdown pass come at old Municipal Stadium, it's where he spent summers as a kid while visiting his mom’s family.

“My first appreciation of yard work came from my Grandpa Joe," the Chargers coach said. "Kind of the work ethic that's been passed down through the generations all very much comes from Joe Cipiti.”

Before the start of the season, Harbaugh gave his players old-style work shirts embroidered with their names, like the ones worn by gas station attendants and mechanics. The shirts paid homage to his grandfather, a self-taught mechanic who ended up teaching at a trade school in Cleveland.

Nick of time

Week by week, Browns running back Nick Chubb is showing signs of being himself again following a second devastating injury to his left knee.

Chubb had only 52 yards on 16 carries last week, but his cuts were sharper and he appeared more decisive.

Browns Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio noticed the difference on one particular run.

“(Ravens nose tackle) Michael Pierce — the depth chart says 355 (pounds), but he’s like 390 or something — he almost jumped on his back one time and he kind of stayed up and gained another five yards up the edge,” Bitonio said. “So I’m like, ‘That looks like Nick Chubb that I know.’”

Quick study

Chargers rookie right tackle Joe Alt is preparing for another test. He has passed all the big ones so far.

The No. 5 overall pick in this year's draft, Alt held his own against Las Vegas’ Maxx Crosby, Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt and Kansas City’s Chris Jones, three of the league's top edge rushers.

This week, he gets the matchup Alt said he was looking forward to before the draft when he takes on Cleveland’s Myles Garrett.

Alt didn’t allow a quarterback pressure last week against New Orleans on any of his 38 pass blocking snaps, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has been impressed with the former Notre Dame lineman.

“They’ve asked him to do so many different things — left side, right side, inside — and he can do everything. He can drop into pass coverage and he’s a complete player,” Herbert said.

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AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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