Jameis Winston a hit with teammates and coaches at OTAs

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston is impressing the right people early at OTAs, displaying the kind of work ethic all teams covet from franchise players.

"We have to kind of tell him when to leave,'' coach Lovie Smith said Thursday, according to Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.

Absent from OTAs on Thursday to take part in the NFL Players Association's Rookie Premiere event, Winston took double reps Wednesday to stay on track in his preparation.

"For him, there's been a lot of individual work, but having a chance this week to go against our best defense and things like that (has been good),'' Smith said. "We have a long ways to go. But we like where he is right now.''

Still, Winston's improvement has been noted on a daily basis, something every coach is hoping to witness.

"I've seen marked improvement, like it should be,'' Smith said. "He's showing more and more comfort in the pocket. There's a lot you ask a rookie to do, but Jameis is picking it all up, just like we thought he would. Right on schedule.''

The praise was not limited to Winston's head coach, with tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins saying, "He gets better every day, he's picking up the offense very fast."