Less than seven months after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, Jameis Winston is back on the practice field. He isn’t going full speed with everything yet, but it’s a good sign for the Saints quarterback in his bid to be fully healthy for Week 1.

Winston said his top priority now is strenthening the area around his meniscus.

“Drops are at full speed right now,” Winston said, via John DeShazier of the team website. “Still progressing into running. But I’m more just taking advantage of every opportunity I can get. I’m happy I can take full-speed reps with passing, not rolling out and stuff yet. (But) everything is going great.”

Winston has a brace on his knee, of course, and will wear it all season.

“I think everyone does that after an ACL, especially at the quarterback position,” Winston said. “There’s nothing limiting. There’s nothing that really bothers you from that perspective. So, I’m commanding the brace now.”

Winston, 28, threw 14 touchdowns, three interceptions, and the Saints had a 5-2 record in Winston’s seven starts. He injured his knee in an Oct. 31 game against the Bucs, which required season-ending surgery.

He spent the rest of the season rehabbing and began to feel a return to normalcy early in the offseason.

“I felt in three months that I was back to this point,” Winston said. “But I’m always embracing the process, always trying to find new ways. It’s actually a blessing in disguise, being able to strengthen other muscles – my hip flexors, my glutes, my quads and hamstrings. Just kind of revamping my whole body and just making sure everything is tight-knit and ready to go.”

Dude is gonna light it up this year. Can’t wait to see it shock everyone, too, that’ll be great!

I’d expect him to start off slow and maybe hit a zone later in the year.

Hoping he makes believers out of all the haters. Let the Redemption Tour begin!

Jameis has all the talent in the world. Saints a nice squad on both sides of the ball, wouldn’t sleep on them.

@ fritosandcoke – Fact is that people have been posting that now for seven years and Winston has failed to prove them right yet… BUT hey, people believe in all kinds of fairy tales these days!

All returns from injury go great.

I totally agree, fritosandcoke!! I posted this in another post…Jameis is gonna go off this season. I remember when Payton was first hired and brought in Drew Brees, people were saying the same things all the haters are now saying about Winston. So, the other day I decided to look up Brees’ stats from his first 7 years in the league and placed them side by side with Winston’s. It is remarkable! Almost a carbon copy!! Haters are gonna hate! Jameis is is about to be cooking up the Crow soup for all of ’em to eat. I can’t wait!!! Who Dat baby

A lot of snow crab legs and beers have done him good.

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