Teammates praise Jameis Winston after Browns' upset win over Ravens

With starting quarterback Deshaun Watson sidelined indefinitely due to a ruptured right Achilles tendon, backup Jameis Winston guided the Cleveland Browns to a shocking 29-24 upset win over the Baltimore Ravens (5-3) that improved Cleveland to 2-6 on Sunday afternoon. 

Winston received high praise from teammates such as wide receiver Cedric Tillman shortly after Tillman caught a game-winning 38-yard touchdown pass with 59 seconds remaining. 

"I’ve been saying it," Tillman told NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated following the victory. "Jameis has been the same guy week in and week out no matter what his role on the team was. Jameis has been talking about when the opportunity comes, we all got to be locked in." 

The Browns seemingly signed Winston in the offseason to make Watson as comfortable as possible regarding the club's quarterback situation as Watson recovered from shoulder surgery. Head coach Kevin Stefanski then continued to play a struggling Watson over Winston this season until the 29-year-old went down with his latest injury on Oct. 20.

Winston wasn't perfect against Baltimore, as he nearly tossed what would've been a game-sealing interception late in the fourth quarter. In total, he completed 27-of-41 pass attempts for 334 yards with three touchdowns and no picks while helping the Cleveland offense enjoy its best outing, to date, of the season. 

"Works his behind off, plays the game hard, practices hard, expects a lot of himself. But with that expectation of himself, he also has for his teammates," star pass-rusher Myles Garrett said about Winston on Sunday, according to Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "But you’re able to do that when you push yourself so hard, when we see you grinding at practice, doing extra, staying late. So, we want to be able to hold on to each other, and that’s what we did." 

Winston went viral on Sunday afternoon after a couple of his pregame talks admittedly left Tillman "laughing a little." With that said, Tillman acknowledged that Winston's messages were "important" in helping give the club a needed boost of "energy." 

Winston and Co. will look to give Browns fans more to cheer about when Cleveland hosts the 4-3 Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. As of Monday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Browns as two-point underdogs for that matchup.