“Drops are at full speed right now,” he said. “Still progressing into running. But I’m more just taking advantage of every opportunity I can get. I’m happy I can take full-speed reps with passing, not rolling out and stuff yet. (But) everything is going great.”
Coach Dennis Allen agreed with the assessment. Winston was present for all OTAs this week.
“I think he’s looked good, I think he’s made a lot of progress,” Allen said. “We’ve still got a ways to go to get him ready, but we like the progress he’s making, we like where he’s at and hopefully that’ll continue.
“With the way that he works and how hard he works, it doesn’t surprise me. I think we’ve got to continue to be smart with that, which I think we are. We’re going to continue to push to get him better, but yet try to be smart about it.”
Winston threw 14 touchdowns and three interceptions last season during his shortened appearance, completing 59 percent of his passes for 1,170 yards. Nearly seven months removed from suffering his injury, he said he felt he was at this level of physical progress four months ago.
“I felt in three months that I was back to this point,” Winston said, smiling. “But I’m always embracing the process, always trying to find new ways. It’s actually a blessing in disguise, being able to strengthen other muscles – my hip flexors, my glutes, my quads and hamstrings. Just kind of revamping my whole body and just making sure everything is tight-knit and ready to go.”