When Bruce Arians met Saints head coach Sean Peyton to shake hands after the game, the Bucs head coach immediately asked after Jameis Winston.
Jameis Winston was having a resurgent season as the starter for the New Orleans Saints.
Then in a cruel twist of fate, he suffered a serious-looking injury against his former team. Winston had to be carted off the field and reports suggest he may have suffered an ACL injury.
His Saints teammates seemed to understand the severity of the moment. And so did Bucs head coach Bruce Arians.
Bruce Arians’ first concern after the Bucs’ loss was Jameis Winston
The first thing Arians appeared to ask when he went to shake Sean Payton’s hand after the game was about Winston.
It definitely looks like Arians referenced Winston and Payton didn’t have good news the share.
Arians coached Winston in Tampa Bay during the 2019 season. He ultimately let him go after that campaign and moved on to Super Bowl glory with Tom Brady.
The head coach proved his class by showing that kind of genuine concern for his former quarterback. Having just lost a close game, he wouldn’t have been expected to have Winston at the forefront of his mind.
Sadly, it looks likely that Winston will miss the remainder of the season. That means when the Saints and Bucs meet again this season, Peyton will have to rely on a backup like Taysom Hill or Trevor Siemian, who came in and produced a late field goal drive to put New Orleans ahead late in the fourth quarter.