After circus leading up to draft, Jameis Winston returns to comfort zone of football field

TAMPA, Fla. -- Early Friday afternoon, eight days after he was tapped as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' savior and the NFL draft's No. 1 pick, Jameis Winston stepped into a place of comfort and one of the few areas where he has complete control.

Winston has referred to football as his sanctuary, an outlet that provides serenity within the swirl around him, and he lived his first professional practice during a two-hour rookie minicamp session at One Buc Place as something different.

He no longer wore Florida State garnet and gold, but his mannerisms that made him a coveted prospect remained the same. He no longer existed as a college standout, but the spiral fired from his right arm while he wore red shorts, a Bucs helmet and a creamsicle No. 3 practice jersey hinted at the promise that made him so appealing to coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jason Licht.

For Winston to work out here, the football field must remain a sanctuary for him. The chatter about his past transgressions will happen outside the lines, and that talk has already occurred in his short time with Tampa Bay. His introduction last Friday included questions about how he would answer critics about his selection, and he was forced to address an innocent-but-unfortunate Instagram photo with crab legs on draft night. Winston has earned all that.

His survival in the NFL will depend on his ability to compartmentalize demands in a suddenly more complex life. On the field, though, there's a comforting simplicity for Winston: Attack and win.

The Bucs must help him keep it that way.

"It's my passion, man," Winston said. "I love this game so much. That's why I work so hard at it. And I believe that's why all these players come to work every day to play football, because they love it. So that's why football is my sanctuary. I grew up wanting to be a pro football quarterback, and I'm here today, and I don't plan on stopping."

Winston became top-pick material because he has thrived between the hashes no matter the storm brewing around him. The field stands as a place where he created his own noise, a setting where he has crafted his own narrative.

There, his critics are kept at a distance, their voices muffled in the stands or in the press box or behind television screens. There, he was provided pieces at Florida State to help him excel, as evidenced by the six other offensive Seminoles players drafted last week.

Any success Winston has with the Bucs will depend on his ability to achieve a similar level of comfort with the proper supporting cast around him. Lately, the field has served more as a snake pit than a sanctuary for Tampa Bay quarterbacks, with the Bucs posting a miserable 6-26 record throughout the past two seasons with Josh Freeman, Mike Glennon and Josh McCown.

Winston must be wary of letting inevitable growing pains drag him down.

"This is a game that we love," Winston said. "This is our passion, and I'm so excited to be a Buc. I'm so excited to be out here and start playing football. I just get anxious. Now I'm here to play games.

"I'm just happy. I'm just like a 6-year-old kid. It's the first day of football."

Winston's opening steps included positive signs. He took instruction well from quarterbacks coach Mike Bajakian and offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter when pulled aside after reps. He barked pre-snap orders such as "Green River!" and "Green Lake!" as he began to familiarize himself with the Bucs' scheme. He encouraged his wide receivers after an early drill, telling them, "Good job! Good job! Keep working!" Later, before his post-practice media session, he greeted both guard Ali Marpet and offensive tackle Donovan Smith to the side of the crowd with hugs, grins and high-fives.

As for his performance, Winston looked both accurate and inaccurate at times. Lovie Smith characterized the rookie's showing in the expected way, saying, "I thought he had a typical first day. ... There's some balls he would like to have back. But we saw a lot of good things."

The good things will become more common as long as Winston develops a clear comfort level on the field. It's imperative that the Bucs don't stunt his growth by placing him behind an inept offensive line with an anemic rushing attack.

Their 52 sacks allowed and the paltry rushing average of 85.9 yards per game last season served as two large reasons why McCown and Glennon were ineffective. Many questions remain about how much the Bucs have improved in both areas despite roster tweaks throughout the offseason. They must make large strides to help Winston become all he can be.

"I think he's excited to do something special here," Marpet said of Winston. "I think he's just excited to get going. He's definitely an excitable guy and an awesome player to have in the huddle."

Drafting Marpet and Donovan Smith in the second round may help Winston's evolution. Tall receiving targets such as Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson will be assets. And certainly, Koetter's presence will stand as a significant upgrade over what the Bucs had with Jeff Tedford and Marcus Arroyo last year, when the Bucs finished 29th in the NFL in scoring by averaging an awful 17.3 points per game.

But like Winston, the Bucs' offense stands as an unfinished creation. Each party involved has a responsibility to grow in a healthy way, to help keep the field a sanctuary for Tampa Bay's most prized asset.

"I just know that we have more pieces around him, and that's what we're trying to do -- just add in areas that we feel like we needed to improve," Lovie Smith said. "And we're doing that. Again, we're not there yet. You look at our record, and it's still 2-14. So we have a long ways to go, but we are getting better, and we don't have as many holes to fill as (when) we started."

Winston has a long way to go, too. But Friday, with his pre-draft marathon complete at last, the Bucs' hope for the future embraced his present with eyes wide open.

You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at aastleford@gmail.com.