Buccaneers Coach Lovie Smith is OK with Jameis Winston’s Personal Issues

By Cheri Cheng - 18 Feb '15 13:19PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are expected to pick up a quarterback in this year's draft and the Buccaneers appear to be leaning toward Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, based on several mock drafts. If they go with Winston, head coach Lovie Smith has made it clear that they are okay with Winston's off-field issues.

"Right now, with the information that we have now, I understand the allegations against him," Smith said Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. "I understand he's been through the justice system to be exonerated. I understand some of the college things that people do that you wish you hadn't (done) later on. You just take all the information you can get at this point. It's early. But right now, we haven't taken him off of our list."

Throughout his college career, Winston has endured several legal issues. He was accused of sexual assault but was never charged. He was also cited for shoplifting at a grocery store.

"I'm looking forward to getting to know him. I think you just start the process. You just start asking them questions, on a lot of different topics. We'll continue to do that," Smith said. "If a player has been accused of something and he's been exonerated, I think you go by that. That's what our justice system is about."

If the Buccaneers are not impressed after their meeting with Winston, they have made it clear that they will stick to their current and only quarterback, Mike Glennon. The Buccaneers just released Josh McCown.

"We like Mike Glennon. We want him to be a part of our future. We like Mike Glennon a lot," general manager Jason Licht said Wednesday at the combine.

Smith added, "Yeah, I think you can definitely say that Mike can be the quarterback that can play at a high level in this league. And I mean, we only have one quarterback on our roster. If you look at the comments I've made about him, yes, I think he can be that guy."

In the last two seasons, Glennon started 18 games and went 5-13 with a 58.8 completion rate. He recorded 4,025 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.