Don't worry everyone, Jameis Winston isn't the next JaMarcus Russell. At least not yet.
On Saturday morning, a photo surfaced on Twitter that made Winston look like he had gained about 105 pounds since Florida State's season ended in a 59-20 loss to Oregon on Jan. 1.
No carb summer for Jameis #bigcatdiet pic.twitter.com/QnZcWqHRWQ
— David Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) February 14, 2015
Some people thought the picture was fake or photoshopped. Some people thought the picture was old. Then there was other people who just thought it was proof that Jameis was the next JaMarcus.
Pregnant Jameis starting to look like Jamarcus Russel 2 pic.twitter.com/t7y0QPm5A8
— Davis St. Clair (@thesaint98) February 14, 2015
Jameis gonna go Jamarcus Russell on us?
— Laamaj (@Tripl3A) February 14, 2015
Jameis Winston so out of shape...Wow dude is taking the Jamarcus Russell route
— Justin J (@SneakerJayy) February 14, 2015
As it turns out though, Winston isn't taking the Russell route. George Whitfield, the quarterback guru working with Winston right now, made a phone call to the Big Lead on Saturday to clear things up.
"The photo of Jameis was taken in early-mid January," Whitfield said. "If people are saying he looks out of shape -- well, did they notice he had the leash tight around his waist? That may have had something to do with it."
If you don't believe Whitfield, here's a picture of Winston without the leash.
Oh internet .... RT @SportsGrid: Meanwhile, #Relax http://t.co/alHq6KzZuD pic.twitter.com/qJ7YE2mXY8
— Jeff (@saintwarrick) February 14, 2015
"Jameis is in shape and doing great," Whitfield said. "Anyone saying he's out of shape, they can check him out at the Combine this week."
CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora wrote on Friday that the weeks leading up to the Combine and months leading up to the NFL Draft are a "slog through negativity, a slow trudge through the lowest-common denominator of anonymous character assassinations" and it looks like that stuff is off to an early start.
Despite the unflattering pictures, Winston is still projected to go No. 1 overall to Tampa Bay in each of the mock drafts put together by our experts here at CBSSports.com.
For the record, here's the most recent picture of Winston. It was posted to Whitfield's Instagram page on Friday, Feb. 13.