Page 23 - Florida Sentinel 10-18-19

Sports
Bruce Arians Says There's No Thought Of Benching Jameis Winston
Boxer Patrick Day, 27, Dies Days After Brutal KO
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are coming off a disastrous “home” game in London against the Carolina Panthers, with seven offensive turnovers — five of them interceptions by Jameis Winston.
Winston now has 10 inter- ceptions this season, second to Baker Mayfield’s 11.
Arians rose to prominence as a coach for his ability to work with quarterbacks, and he has a former NFL quarter- back, Byron Leftwich, work- ing with him as his offensive coordinator. But while Win- ston has had some solid out- ings — he played well in the Buccaneers’ surprising road win over the Los Angeles Rams two weeks ago — this past Sunday was one of the worst of his five-year career.
But Arians isn’t consider- ing sitting Winston.
‘Not At All’
On Monday, ESPN Bucca- neers reporter Jenna Laine asked Arians if any thought has been given to making a change at quarterback, partic- ularly with this being Tampa Bay’s bye week.
JAMEIS WINSTON
“Not at all,” Arians said. “I think as we continue to grow together, I think it will get bet- ter and these games will be one in a million and not one every five.”
The Panthers’ pass rush was impressive, and led to Win- ston being sacked seven times. But he also just held onto the ball too long on sev- eral occasions. At the two- minute mark of the first half, the Buccaneers were in field- goal range, facing first down from the Carolina 12.
Winston was sacked on consecutive snaps, and on the second clearly was trying to force a play instead of throw- ing the ball away, getting an-
other shot on third down, and at minimum getting a field goal that would have put Tampa Bay down just a touch- down heading into the half.
Instead, he lost the ball on the second sack.
Arians also said the per- formance against the Panthers doesn’t change what he thinks of Winston and his ability to be a franchise quarterback, but if it happens again it will worry him.
Small Problem
With Benching
There’s a small problem with the idea that Winston could be benched: the team has made it so he basically can’t. Tampa Bay has only one other quarterback on its ros- ter: 29-year-old Ryan Grif- fin.
Griffin, undrafted out of Tulane in 2013 and a member of the Buccaneers for four years, has never played a snap in the NFL.
Cam Newton Expected To Return To Practice After Bye; Foot Has ‘Healed Well’
CAM NEWTON
The Carolina Panthers have not committed to Cam New- ton taking back his starting job when he is fully recovered from his foot injury, but they may have to make that decision be- fore their next game.
Newton has “healed well” from the foot ailment and is ex- pected to return to practice fol- lowing Carolina’s Week 7 bye.
Returning to practice and being considered game-ready are two different things, so it’s still possible that the Panthers could take things slow with Newton.
They have won four straight games with Kyle Allen as their starting quarterback, so it seems highly unlikely that they will send the former undrafted free agent to the bench given how well he has played.
Middleweight boxer Patrick Day has died days after suffering traumatic brain injuries in a brutal knockout loss, his promoter said Wednesday.
Day, 27, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hos- pital in Chicago following his Saturday fight with Charles Conwell.
Day (17-4-1, 6 KOs) strug- gled in his fight with Conwell, a 2016 U.S. Olympian from
PATRICK DAY
Cleveland who improved to 11- 0 with his win over the Freeport, N.Y. fighter.
Welterweight Champ Errol Spence, Jr. Charged With DWI After Crash
Less than a week after sur- viving a terrifying rollover crash in his Ferrari, WBC/IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence, Jr. could be facing some legal consequences.
The Dallas Police Depart- ment released a statement Wednesday announcing that it had charged Spence with driving while intoxicated, a class B misdemeanor.
In Texas, a DWI is defined as operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content
ERROL SPENCE, JR.
greater than 0.08 percent. The class B level of charge, how- ever, indicates Spence’s BAC wasn’t above 0.15 percent.
Benjamin Watson Reportedly Likely To Return To Patriots
A week after declining to add tight end Benjamin Watson to their roster, the New England Patriots have changed their minds.
According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the Patriots are ex- pected to re-sign Watson for tight end depth after ending his time with the team a week ago.
BEN WATSON
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