After tacking on four more wins in 2015 over 2014, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hope to continue their upward trend.
In the midst of an offseason where NFL players can enjoy some down time away from football, Mike Evans and Jameis Winston are making a conscious effort to hang around each other in hopes that their chemistry will improve on the gridiron. At the very least, it seems to be making their coach happy.
"Jameis and Mike are the right kind of guys," Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter told reporters Monday. "They're not blind to the amount of talent those two guys have and the better those two guys play, the better those two execute the better off our football team is going to be. They're not blind to that. Even though statistically speaking, both of those guys had pretty decent seasons last year, the bottom line is still wins in the NFL. Jameis and Mike have to become a more lethal combination and I'm quite confident that they will."
Evans agreed with his coach's sentiments.
"We've been hanging out more. Even though we're both busy guys, we find time to hang out and throw when we can," Evans said. "I agree with Dirk our chemistry was a little off last year -- mostly on my end, though. I feel that it won't be a problem this year."
According to the Texas A&M product, the two are adapting to their budding friendship quite well.
"He's trying to find me everywhere I'm at, see what I'm doing," Evans said. "He wants to hang out, wants to go throw all the time. He's doing the right things and he's a workaholic. I need to do a little more running than him. He's working and wants to be the best, and I do as well."
Koetter's constructive criticism of said quarterback-wideout relationship and Evans' stamp of approval has to feel good for Buccaneers fans. In fact, Winston and Evans fared well during their first season together. Winston finished with 4,042 passing yards and was runner-up to Todd Gurley for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Out of 4,042 of Winston's passing yards, 1,206 were allotted to Evans. The wideout, however, hauled in just three of Winston's 22 touchdown passes.
Of course it's beneficial that Winston and Evans are working on their chemistry during the offseason, but the Bucs have other problem areas to fine-tune -- turnovers, a leaky secondary and offensive line play being chief among them.