12/1/2022 football Edit

Winston Wright remains positive, focuses excitement toward return in 2023

Bob Ferrante • TheOsceola

Editor

Winston Wright Jr. has kept a smile and a positive attitude the throughout a season in which he hasn’t been able to play in a game. The Florida State receiver injured his leg when he was the passenger in a car accident in March.

“These last nine months, I feel like it’s a positive for me,” Wright said after Thursday’s practice. “My career, just helped me grow as a person, helped me be there for other guys on the team in the receiver room. Just helped me grow mentally stronger.”

Wright has practiced with FSU this fall but in a limited role. He’s at times fielded punts and kickoffs and at others caught passes in individual drills. There were clearly times when Wright thought he was getting close to being able to play in a game but that didn’t work out.

“When I got hurt, yeah, I did think I was going to play,” Wright said. “But just talking to the coaching staff, it just made more sense for me just to hold off and come back so I could be at my full potential.”

Like all rehabilitations after surgery, Wright’s road back was closely monitored by FSU’s medical staff. Mike Norvell said there was no reason to “force” Wright back into a game, but when asked periodically for updates throughout the fall the FSU coach has consistently praised the receiver’s work ethic and positive attitude.

“It’s a hard journey,” Norvell said. “That young man loves this game. He loves his teammates. He loves competing. And we want to make sure that when he steps back on this field that he is right, that he is in all ways playing to the best of his ability. He had a really good year. Some of the metrics that he was able to hit in that rehab were remarkable. It never got to the point to where he could go out there and that anybody was ready to say, ‘Alright, let’s force this.’ When it wasn’t time.

"He has had the right mindset. I’m sure he’s had some really good days and he’s had some tough days, just have to deal with it because of the competitor that he is. And I love his spirit.”

On Monday, Wright posted on Twitter that he is returning to FSU in 2023. The decision isn’t a surprise, but it reinforces his commitment to helping FSU and furthering his development as a potential NFL draft pick in 2024.

Wright showed his explosiveness at West Virginia in 2021, grabbing 63 passes for 688 yards and five touchdowns. The 5-foot-10, 183-pound Wright has 1,338 receiving yards in his college career and also two touchdowns on kick returns.

“I’m very excited. Next year we’re going to have a good team. Me just being able to add to this team that we have is going to be big. I’m just very excited just to get back to myself.”

Wright said he felt a strong connection with FSU’s staff during the transfer process, and he is appreciative of the support and motivation from family, coaches and teammates since his injury. If receivers like Johnny Wilson and Mycah Pittman decide to return to FSU in 2023, those two along with Wright and emerging younger options like Malik McClain and Kentron Poitier make for a formidable group in what was once a much-maligned room.

“That whole room, I feel, is special,” Wright said. “With the pieces that we have coming back I feel like we will be more dangerous. We’ll have a whole year together and a whole offseason to get even better.”