Whether or not Jameis Winston had a perfect view of the defenders who intercepted 30 of his passes last season remains unclear, but the quarterback says his vision is greatly improved after offseason LASIK eye surgery.
The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB officially signed with the New Orleans Saints on Tuesday, landing a one-year contract to serve as one of Drew Brees’ backups.
Speaking Wednesday on an introductory call with the New Orleans media, Winston detailed the difference in his eyesight since the LASIK procedure.
“No blurriness, and I think that’s huge,” he said. “(My) depth perception has increased tremendously, and those are the big things.
“I didn’t have bad eyes, I just had astigmatism. I had certain things that they had to fix to increase the precision and the sharpness of my vision. … I can read license plates, I can read street signs. I think the precision in the vision is the biggest difference.”
Winston’s interception total last season not only led the NFL, but it was the league’s highest figure since another Buccaneers quarterback, Vinny Testaverde, was picked off 35 times in 1988.
On the plus side for Winston, 26, he also led the league with 5,109 passing yards in 2019, and he threw 33 touchdown passes.
Winston expects to have to work to gain his place with the Saints, who have Brees as the starting quarterback and just last weekend re-signed Taysom Hill to reprise his role as backup quarterback/receiver/special teams performer.
“What I need to get done is I need to be a great teammate, I need to serve our team and I need to be competing every day,” Winston said. “One thing I do take pride in is being competitive. I’m going to do my best to be the best football player I can be. “