Bucs happy to welcome back Antoine Winfield Jr.

TAMPA — It took all of three plays for Antoine Winfield Jr. to announce his return to the Bucs lineup after missing four weeks with a foot injury. The All-Pro safety did it Sunday by showing up in the one place he hadn’t been during his career: the end zone.

Saints rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler connected on a short pass with Chris Olave, who was hit by Bucs defensive back Zyon McCollum as rookie Tykee Smith stripped him of the football.

Winfield scooped up the loose ball and returned it 58 yards for a touchdown, his first in five NFL seasons.

Because the play was immediately reviewed, the NFL on Fox cameras did not catch Winfield’s brief end zone dance.

“Oh yeah, first touchdown, I definitely celebrated,” Winfield said Tuesday. “I did a little dance at the end. ... Fun to actually get home for my first time.”

Winfield finished with four tackles, a quarterback hit, a fumble recovery and the score that stunned the Saints in what would become a 51-27 victory.

More importantly, he provided security to the Bucs cornerbacks, who jumped routes all afternoon.

There’s no better evidence of how Winfield can affect the defense without ever making a play than McCollum’s interception to start the fourth quarter.

The Bucs led 31-27 when Rattler tried to connect with Saints receiver Rashid Shaheed at the Bucs’ 42-yard line. McCollum seemingly came out of nowhere to make a leaping catch of an interception.

“I mean, life is good if 31 is back there,” McCollum said of Winfield. “And so I was just on the sideline. I was talking to Antoine. I was saying, ‘if you’re going to play over the top, than I’m just going to play aggressive. I’m going to slip every route for the rest of the game.’ I slipped that route and found the ball.”

It may have been the biggest play of the game in terms of shifting the momentum. The Bucs capitalized on the turnover and made it a two-score lead when quarterback Baker Mayfield capped off the next drive with an 8-yard TD pass to Cade Otton.

The Bucs defense may be getting healthy at the right time. In addition to Winfield’s return, they also got defensive tackle Calijah Kancey back in the lineup for the first time this season.

Winfield credited his teammates for keeping the season on the right track despite so many injuries.

“That’s part of the job,” Winfield said. “It’s like that next-man-up mentality. Even though I was out, we still had guys filling in that did a great job. Christian Izien came in and did a great job when I went out, so it’s always having those guys that are working behind the starters (step up).”

Kancey said he felt as though he was still knocking the rust off, but he didn’t disappoint. He finished with two tackles and one of five sacks on the day of Rattler.

“With (Winfield) and Kancey back, our defense definitely felt it,” Bowles said. “You felt Kancey up front. You felt Winfield Jr. in the back and you felt the confidence that they rose to a different level, especially in the second half, and those guys played well.”

Of course, Winfield is one of Bowles’ favorite chess pieces that can affect the game at all three levels. He has 15 quarterback sacks in his career.

That’s why it’s surprising his injury came toward the end of the Bucs’ season-opening win over Washington. Windfield slipped when he came on a blitz in the fourth quarter.

“It was tough,” Winfield said. “I actually was trying to make a move when I was blitzing and I kind of planted and overstepped a little bit and, you know, felt something kind of weird in my foot ... (but) I’m happy to be back.”

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