Kellen Winslow will get major minutes against Miami Dolphins

TAMPA — Tight end Kellen Winslow is used to being held. But in the preseason, the guy who locks onto his jersey the tightest is Bucs coach Raheem Morris.

That's because Morris knows Winslow is going to post elite numbers as long as they get him and his chronically sore knee to the starting line of the regular season.

But even as hard as Winslow practices, he still needs some major minutes in a preseason game, and will finally get them Saturday against the Miami Dolphins.

"I'm a rep guy. I need game reps," Winslow said. "My situation is what it is, but I still have been practicing doing the things I need to get ready for the game. But nothing is like the game speed. You have to be hit, so I just need game speed and I'm ready."

By all accounts, Winslow has had one of the best training camps of his career, perhaps aided by the fact that for the first time since 2008 he didn't have at least an arthroscopic procedure done on his right knee in the offseason. But in order to play, he still has to have a lot of treatment, including a daily regimen of electro stimulation therapy.

"Surgery has nothing to do with my situation," Winslow said. "It's from the (motorcycle) accident and it will never change. But I'm able to do what I do because of all this stuff you see around here. It's a daily thing, even in the offseason, I have to do this stuff every day. It's just what I have to go through. It's what I do, it's my job."

Winslow's routine includes wearing full pads to the final practice of the week, even while his teammates are in only helmets, t-shirts and shorts.

"The first I guess he shocked everybody when he came out in full gear," Morris said. "But he likes to run around in his pads. ... We accept him for it and it is fun to watch him do that.

"He's a tempo setter and he certainly will set tempo this week."

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(tampabay.com)