TAMPA, Fla. _ Well, we're here.
And Jameis Winston isn't.
The Bucs' fourth and final preseason game mercifully concluded, Winston stood in the Bucs locker room in street clothes, which will be his fashion look for the next month.
We're here.
Winston spoke to his teammates Wednesday night. And, to his credit, he stood at his locker after watching Thursday's game. He told media how hard he was going to work and reflected on his encouraging exhibition games.
"It's just preseason," Winston said. "Now it counts."
We're here.
No more abstract discussions about how these Bucs will do without their suspended quarterback. It gets real, very real, as Winston steps away, banned from Bucs headquarters, from Bucs anything.
"I'm just going to be working really hard and getting ready for Week 4," Winston said. "You can't say anything. It's a tough situation."
And all his fault.
Forget Week 4.
It's about weeks 1-3. It's about the looming gauntlet. The Bucs are in the toughest division and the toughest conference in the NFL. They're in the best quarterback division in the world. Tough luck. The season begins in New Orleans. The Big Queasy.
"We're starting right off in one of the toughest places to play that I've ever been in, and I've been in a lot of places," Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said.
Everything is on the line. There are people who might not have jobs at the end of this season, Koetter among them. There is so much riding on 2018, and the Bucs begin it in a hole, with the toughest opening schedules in recent memory.
The 2-2 preseason did encourage. But what does it mean? I'll tell you. The Detroit Lions went 4-0 in the 2008 preseason, then proceeded to lose all 16 of their regular season. That's what it means.
These Bucs look deep at some spots (receiver, tight end, defensive line) and thin at others (running back, offensive line, secondary). It's a mixed bag. And now it gets serious. We're here.
"We've got no choice," Koetter said. "Those are the cards that we're dealt. That's what we have to do. That's life in the NFL."
"Ain't nobody going to feel sorry for us," Bucs offensive lineman Demar Dotson said.
A 3-0 start after New Orleans, defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia and Monday night against Pittsburgh would be a moon shot, a miracle. Ryan Fitzpatrick for mayor. Go 2-1 and you're playing with house money. A 1-2 start seems possible.
But we just won't know until we know.
"With me knowing Jameis, when he comes back, he's going to have a chip on his shoulder," Dotson said. "He's going to be a guy who is going to prove everybody wrong."
Winston did this to himself. Whether the team he leaves behind will amount to collateral damage remains to be seen.
We won't know what we'll see until we see it.
Teammates support teammates. But the Bucs have bigger things on their minds. They're professionals.
"It's an unfortunate situation, but my chip doesn't rely on what happened to Jameis," Dotson said. "I've got to do what I've got to do to go out there and be a good football player or I won't have a job. That's my chip. I want to continue to play this game, I want to continue to feed my family, I want to continue to o be the best right tackle I can be. And that's enough. That's my chip."
"I just like the way they're working, the way they're competing. I think they're on the right track mentally," Koetter said.
We have no idea what is about to happen. Nor do the Bucs. We don't know if this season will be up and running or in shambles by the time Winston returns. We don't even know, for sure, if the job is his come Week 4. It's one of the strangest seasons in Bucs history, which is saying something.
But it's here. And it counts. That's the chip.
"I'm ready to get out there and work hard, because I'm not stopping, there's just no way in the world I'm going to stop," Winston said. "I'm going to continue to work hard and get ready for Week 4."
Good for you.
Now, get lost.
