Jameis Winston impresses in Bucs workout

(TNS) — The near-capacity crowd that came out and braved the threatening weather to watch the Buccaneers during their first public workout of training camp seemed to bring out the best in QB Jameis Winston on Sunday.

After a rather sloppy performance in the rain at the University of South Florida on Saturday night, Winston was arguably as sharp and accurate as he’s ever been in a Bucs uniform.

During 11-on-11 and seven-on seven drills, Winston only had a few of his throws fall incomplete and on at least a couple of occasions, he was throwing the ball away to avoid a turnover.

Among the highlights were several throws to WRs Mike Evans and rookie Kenny Bell, both of whom appear to be emerging as quite possibly Winston’s favorite targets.

The defense got in some good plays against Winston as well with LB Danny Lansanah and CB Johnthan Banks both breaking up passes. For the most part, though, the day belonged to Winston and his wideouts.

Using mostly one- and three-step drops, Winston drew a raucous round of cheers when he hit Bell on a short slant off the left edge on a play that Bell quickly turned into a long-gainer.

Winston also showed good accuracy on deep throws down the middle of the field and down the right sideline to Vincent Jackson and flipped a pass over LB Kwon Alexander to get the ball to RB Charles Sims.

Winston threw a similar pass over the head of CB Mike Jenkins to Evans, who quickly turned that play into a big gain, one of several Evans turned in on a day when he appeared to be the team’s featured receiver.

Along the offensive front the Bucs made a small change with the first team, inserting rookie Donovan Smith into the lineup at left tackle, where second-year pro Kevin Pamphile worked on Saturday.

For the second straight day Garrett Gilkey took the first-team reps at right guard. Both coach Lovie Smith and offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter said competition continues there between Gilkey, rookie Ali Marpet and second-year pro Kadeem Edwards.

In addition to WR Louis Murphy (amkle) and DT Akeem Spence (back surgery), S Chris Conte sat out the workout while nursing a sore hamstring. That injury is not serious, coach Lovie Smith said.

Sunday’s workout was the second without pads.