Expect TE Brate to thrive with Winston back at QB

TAMPA — Cameron Brate might be the fantasyfootball player of the week at tight end in the NFL because his prospects for catching passes also looks much better with the starting return of Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston at Atlanta.

Though Brate and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick are Harvard alums, there wasn’t as much of a connection on the field.

Brate went without a catch and only two targets the first two games with Fitzpatrick under center despite the quarterback posting more than 400 yards passing to go with four touchdowns in each game. That had more to with the emergence of tight end O.J. Howard than anything.

The last two weeks have been better for Brate. He caught three passes and had a touchdown in each game, one from Winston in the second half at Chicago.

Howard suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in his knee against the Bears but practiced this week and could play Sunmore day.

But Brate has been a favorite target for Winston during the past three seasons when he caught 128 passes for 1,539 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Last year Brate had 14 percent of Winston’s targets and caught 26 percent of his touchdowns.

Expect that chemistry to continue among Winston, Brate and receiver Adam Humphries, who was targeted on four of Winston’s first five passes against the Bears.

“It will just feel like old times, I guess,’’ Brate said about Winston starting, though he went on to express “total confidence whoever is in at quarterback.”

Brate, Humphries and Winston have spent the past three years taking extra reps after practice, and it’s paid off. Humphries was the team’s secondleading receiver with 61 receptions for 631 yards last season.

Both Brate and Humphries have had to learn to be patient. With Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson getting most of the targets and Howard and Chris Godwin gobbling up playing time, there’s not enough footballs to go around.

“Exactly. I guess it’s going to switch week to week based on what the game plan is on offense,’’ Brate said. “We have so many skill position players and an elite receiver like Mike. He deserves double-digit targets every week. You’ve just got to be patient. Whether it’s your turn that week or not, your turn is coming.’’

Brate’s patience already has been rewarded. The Bucs signed him to a sixyear, $40.8-million contract in March with $18 million guaranteed. Humphries will become a free agent at the end of 2018 but the Bucs have had discussions about re-signing him.

“Cam and Hump are comfortable with Jameis and I think DeSean and Chris becoming more so all the time,” coach Dirk Koetter said. “You know, for whatever reason, we just didn’t make it click very well with DeSean last year, but that was last year. DeSean is off to an excellent start and he’s doing a good job in practice. I don’t see any reason that would drop off.”