ESPN's sideline reporter Heather Cox has said she will not apologize for a line of questioning that caused Jameis Winston to walk away from an interview after he and the Florida State Seminoles won the ACC Championship.

In an interview with SI.com, Cox said she is sticking by her on-field chat with Winston following Saturday's game. Winston had just led his team to a 45-7 victory over Duke to secure the ACC Conference title and an appearance in the BCS National Championship game.

She started by asking him about the National Championship game then followed with three questions directly relating to the sexual assault investigation for which he will not face any charges. According to one of Cox's superiors, this was not to be a surprise to anyone.

"Florida State agreed to the interview with no restrictions," ESPN executive vice president of production John Wildhack, told SI.com. "Heather did a terrific job asking a variety of topical questions."

Winston answered the second and third answers with a smile on his face, taking each chance to praise his coach and others around him. When Cox asked why he did not speak publicly on the investigation process, Winston's smile faded and he walked away.

Coming to his client's side, Tim Jansen, Winston's attorney, was critical of her line of questioning in a series of tweets. Jansen accused Cox of "ambushing" Winston, calling her actions "inappropriate and unprofessional" and even asking for her public apology.

According to Jansen, Florida State did give the reporter guidelines for her sideline interview, stating Cox "agreed and then violated those terms."

"I was never once asked not to ask about the investigation and if I had been asked not to ask those questions, I would have declined to do the interview because I would not have been able to do my job," Cox told SI.com. "I think a lot of people out there think I ambushed him (Winston) and went against Coach Fisher and the Florida State PR group, and that is not at all the case. They were fully aware of my intent to ask questions about the investigation."

Cox's questioning was also affected by the game's outcome. By the time it ended, the number-one-ranked Seminoles were only waiting for BCS voters to officially add them to the title game. Their participation was a forgone conclusion, so Cox decided against asking game-related questions.

"That's why I asked one big-picture, celebration question to start and then I felt like it was then time to ask the questions that everybody wanted to know the answers to since Jameis had not spoken yet," Cox said.

Cox also cleared up any theories that she was pulled from covering the postgame trophy celebration ceremony. Both Cox and ESPN management said her college Dari Nowkah was previously scheduled for that duty.

Lastly Cox said she is not aware of who muttered "Heather, that's cheap." She also said she spoke with Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher who was rumored to be the person who said that. Regardless, Cox wanted to make sure people knew of something they may not have been able to see on television.

Winston did not turn his back and walk away, Cox said, "He was pulled away."