Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter won’t say whether Ryan Fitzpatrick or Jameis Winston will start, though the quarterbacks know his game plan for Sunday against the Bears.
TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ‘ quarterback situation will remain a mystery — for at least another day and possibly through the week.
Head coach Dirk Koetter said Tuesday that he isn’t divulging who his starter will be, even after meeting with both Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick and informing them of the plan.
Bucs QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, whose “FitzMagic” was the talk of the NFL the first two weeks, struggled early with three first-half interceptions Monday night but still managed to engineer a late rally that came up just short in a 30-27 loss to Pittsburgh.
Winston returned from his three-game suspension Tuesday morning, while Fitzpatrick threw for 400 yards the last three games but struggled in the Bucs’ 30-27 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football.
“I know there’s a lot of interest in the quarterback thing,” Koetter said. “I did talk to both Jameis and Fitz and it was great to see Jameis back in the building. He was here early and working hard. We’re glad to have him. [It’s] a short week. He assured me that he’s ready to go, which I don’t doubt for a minute that he’s been working hard. So we both know what we’re going to do. I hope everyone can appreciate that it doesn’t do us any good to tell our opponents what we’re going to do. So that will work itself out as the week goes on. But we do have a plan and both guys are aware of it.”
Koetter said the plan has been a work in progress over the last several days.
“I wasn’t sure where everything was going to be,” Koetter said. “I’m still not 100 percent sure because I haven’t seen Jameis practice. I know when Jameis left at the end of the preseason, he was in good form.”
Heading into Monday’s game, the feeling around the Bucs’ facility was that Fitzpatrick would continue to start for at least another week, with the astronomical numbers. In Weeks 1 and 2, Fitzpatrick led the NFL with 819 passing yards, throwing eight touchdowns and tacking on a ninth touchdown with his legs, leading the Bucs to wins over the New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles.
But he struggled against a Steelers defense that was hellbent on pressuring the 35-year-old signal caller and preventing big plays downfield. He threw three interceptions in the second quarter alone, including a pick-6 when he was backed up into his own end zone.
“We can’t turn the ball over, no matter if they pressure us 40 percent [of the time] or 400 percent,” Koetter said. “We can’t turn the ball over.”
A source close to Winston confirmed to ESPN that he was at the team facility at 4:45 a.m., even though it was the players’ day off. He’ll be joined by teammates Wednesday, which will mark the first time he’s practiced with them in 28 days.
For the past three weeks, Winston was not permitted to set foot in the Bucs facility, let alone practice with the team. He enlisted the help of private quarterback coach George Whitfield and rounded up a group of 25 Tampa-area players, including former Bucs teammates Louis Murphy, Andre Davis and Bernard Reedy, along with former FSU teammate Nick O’Leary.
The players practiced every day for 2½ hours at Plant High School, the University of South Florida and a local park. They participated in 7-on-7s and even 11-on-11s to simulate pressure. They even put on pads and had mock games on Saturdays.
“It was very intense,” Murphy said. “He made us all better.”
Reedy added: “He’s still one of the hardest workers I know.”
Wide receiver Chris Godwin said he doesn’t see the offense changing, regardless of who starts.
“It’s a good situation to be in, knowing that you have two very, very good quarterbacks that can come in and sling it,” said Godwin, who caught one of Fitzpatrick’s fourth-quarter touchdowns. “We’re just so used to all of our quarterbacks, because we get a lot of reps with all of them and are all on the same page. It’s not like what we’re doing with Fitz is so different than what we’ve done with Jameis.”
Wide receiver Adam Humphries said, “[They’re] hungry to play and hungry to win games. Obviously it’s not our decision, but as a receiver, I’m excited to go out and play my heart out for either one of them.”
The Bucs, now 2-1, hit the road this week to take on the Chicago Bears (also 2-1) for Week 4.
