If Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez plays well this year, Tim Tebow won’t get a chance to start. So does that mean Tebow is rooting for Sanchez to fail, and get benched?
Not according to Tebow, who unsurprisingly says he wants Sanchez to do well, even if that means Tebow remains a backup.
“We have a great relationship, on and off the field,” Tebow said of Sanchez, via GatorZone.com. “It’s really very easy to say I am rooting for him. I will not root against him. I wish him nothing but the best. Now, that doesn’t mean I have to try any less, but I really think he’s done a great job. They’ve been in the AFC Championship Game twice he’s been there. He’s a good quarterback and he’ll continue to work hard and be the best he can.”
Tebow does want to become a starting quarterback again, but he said he believes he has to get better at “everything” about playing quarterback in the NFL.
“I think understanding offense very well, that’ll be a key. And just continuing to work on fundamentals,” Tebow said. “My biggest weakness has probably been fundamentals. The offense we ran at Florida, I had great fundamentals for that, with my feet. Now, being under center, play-action, seven-step drops, being in the pocket, it’s different. The great quarterbacks aren’t necessarily super-athletic, but they have great rhythm and timing because of their feet. . . . Sometimes I want to go so fast, so having rhythm and timing is something I need to work on every day.”
Anyone who’s watched Tebow would agree that he has to get better as a passer. But it might take only a bad game or two early in the season for the Jets’ coaches to decide that Tebow is already a better quarterback than Sanchez.