Browns QB Jameis Winston Reflects On Big Day, Praises Former Teammate

After a 35-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns quarterback Jameis Winston gave a shout out to Taysom Hill for three-touchdown performance

Nov 17, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Jameis Winston (5) hugs his former teammates including New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis (56) and New Orleans Saints tight end Taysom Hill (7) at the end of the game at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images / Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Entering the fourth quarter, the Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints were deadlocked in a 14-14 ballgame. Browns QB Jameis Winston looked poised to lead his new team to victory over his former team.

Winston spent the last four seasons with the Saints before signing with the Browns this offseason and as he entered the final stanza of the game he had a chance to walk out of his old stomping grounds with a win.

That Hollywood story just wasn't meant to be. New Orleans went on to score three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 35-14 win, spoiling a tremendous day by Winston who completed 30-of-46 passes for 395 yards and two scores.

It wasn't the ending he had hoped for.

"Just beyond grateful for the love and support that I received from this city," Winston said. "This is definitely not the outcome we wanted. But we're gonna continue to fight. We're gonna continue to get better. And we're gonna continue to look within and be the solution. We have to individually be the solution. "

With how well Winston was playing it seems unfathomable that the Browns offense only put up two touchdowns on the day. The veteran QB's first TD came on an 89-yard completion to Jerry Jeudy. It was Cleveland's first play over 40 yards this season. Later, Winston found Elijah Moore in the back of the end zone on a broken pocket pass that left Moore just enough room to touch his toes along the sideline for six.

Unfortunately – as Winston even explained – they just couldn't finish enough drives. Whether it was the two missed field goals by Dustin Hopkins or drives stalling out before they could enter scoring range, 14 points was all they could muster.

"We just gotta continue to finish drives with touchdowns," said Winston. "We did some good things, but every week we do good things. We gotta find ways to finish. And I'm gonna be doing everything in my power to make sure that we can put more points up for the defense."

That wasn't a problem for the Saints, as Winston's stellar performance was overshadowed by one of his former teammates in Taysom Hill. The jack of all trades tight end saw snaps in just about every skill position role on Sunday. He tormented the Browns in the process to the beat of 206 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns.

Despite his best efforts to also give the game away after throwing an interception and fumbling to stall another drive in the first half, Hill wound up redeeming himself, and then some. Cleveland quite literally had no answers for him and his performance overshadowed a day that – for a while at least – seemed like it was destined to be about the Saints former QB.

"I know Taysom," Winston said. "He is an amazing player. We used to show reps all the time, that's just how great of a player he is. He's tough to plan, he's tough to stop. And I did not know he could run inside zone and he did that well. When you playing against one of the best all-time athletes that the NFL has seen, you have to come with it. And he was prepared, he did a great job today."