For the first seven games of the 2021 season, Jameis Winston was playing quarterback the way the Tampa Bay Buccaneers probably envisioned when they chose the former Hueytown High School star with the first pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.

After a year of apprenticeship with Drew Brees, Winston won the New Orleans Saints’ starting job for 2021. New Orleans won five of its first seven games while Winston threw 14 touchdown passes and only three interceptions.

“We ran the ball well, we threw the ball well and we played great complimentary football,” Winston said. “And that’s the key to success for any team. …

“I think just as a team, we did a great job of playing together. And you know, (coach) Sean Payton is one of the best play-callers in the game and, again, watching the process of someone in front of me do it over and over and over again. And just going out there and being who I am — taking care of football, great job carrying out my fakes, just doing everything that’s required to win.”

But Winston sustained a knee injury in 2021’s Game 7, and he has started five NFL regular-season games since.

On Sunday, Winston will be at quarterback for the third game in a row for Cleveland, and he’ll be back in New Orleans, where the Browns will play the Saints.

Winston spent his first five NFL seasons as Tampa Bay’s starting quarterback, during which he threw for 19,737 yards and 121 touchdowns. But after Winston led the NFL with 5,109 passing yards (the 10th most in one season in league history) and 30 interceptions in 2019, the Bucs switched to free agent Tom Brady and won the Super Bowl in 2020.

Winston chose to sign with New Orleans to back up Brees.

“I’m grateful for every opportunity that I have,” Winston said. “But I’m really grateful for the time, really one year, that I had with Sean Payton and Drew Brees of just learning how to play the quarterback position the right way.”

During his time with Tampa Bay, Winston had more passing yards than any NFL player other than Peyton Manning has had in the first five seasons of his career. He’s No. 11 on the five-year touchdown passes list with 121. But he’s also 11th in interceptions through the first five seasons with 88.

“I think it definitely was a process where I was looking to take all the superpowers that Drew Brees and Sean had and implement them in my system,” Winston said of his choice to come to New Orleans. “It’s what to do and what not to do. And when you see a quarterback that has done it at a high level for a long time under a system that he’s been in for a long time, you just see the day-in and day-out detail and intentionality that is taken with every play.”

When Brees retired after the 2020 season, Winston won a quarterback competition with Taysom Hill for the 2021 season.

After the 2021 season, the Saints tried to acquire quarterback Deshaun Watson, who was unhappy with the Houston Texans. After New Orleans lost that sweepstakes to the Browns, the Saints re-signed Winston to a two-year, $28 million contract.

Injuries sent Winston off the field again in 2022, this time after he started the first three games. Back and ankle ailments kept Winston out of uniform for a couple of contests, but when he returned, he didn’t get his job back. The Saints stuck with Andy Dalton at quarterback all the way to the end of a 7-10 season.

In 2023, New Orleans succeeded in its quarterback pursuit – signing Derek Carr after the Las Vegas Raiders released him. That came with an offer to Winston: Take less money to stay on the team in 2023 or be released. Winston chose the former, before leaving New Orleans in free agency in 2024 to become Watson’s backup in Cleveland.

In the Browns’ 21-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 20, Watson sustained an Achilles tendon injury that will sideline him for the remainder of the season.

Winston started the two games before last week’s bye – a 29-24 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 27 and a 27-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Nov. 3.

In the two games, Winston completed 53-of-87 passes for 569 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions and ran for 29 yards on seven carries.

The Browns and Saints will square off at noon CST Sunday at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.