Jameis Winston struggling to grip football with hand injury

Jameis Winston is on the verge of becoming the first player in NFL history to throw 30 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions in the same season, but he may fall short of that mark if his hand injury forces him to sit out in Week 15.

Winston suffered an injury to his throwing hand in last week’s game against the Indianapolis Colts, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said an X-ray revealed a tiny fracture. Winston played through the injury for much of the game, but he has not been able to throw footballs in practice this week. He was spotted throwing tennis balls on Thursday.

Progress at Bucs practice: Jameis Winston is throwing … tennis balls. Another step as he tried to play through thumb injury. pic.twitter.com/i6t8KC6tVR

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) December 12, 2019

That certainly isn’t a good sign for Winston’s availability. The Bucs are no longer in playoff contention, so there isn’t any real incentive to have Winston play. He may push to play since he is scheduled to become a free agent this winter, but he has enough trouble protecting the ball when his hand is healthy.

The Bucs already lost Mike Evans in last week’s game when he injured himself on one of his patented long touchdown catches, and they could be even more shorthanded than expected against the Detroit Lions.