At least that’s what the Jets are saying.
New York general manager Mike Tannenbaum made that fairly clear on Wednesday night (once the deal finally did get done) when he spoke about Tebow’s role will be with the Jets.
“Mark Sanchez is, has been and will be our starting quarterback,” he stated. “We’re adding Tim to be our backup quarterback and to play in other roles and play in other packages that Coach [Rex] Ryan and Coach [Tony] Sparano see fit. Tim’s comfortable with that, he knows about it … They’re both very clear in what their roles will be.”
Of course, you have to take Tannenbaum’s word for what it’s worth at this point. Things could certainly change moving forward, especially if Sanchez continues to show little or no improvement. If that’s the case, there’s a good chance that Jets fans will be screaming for Tebow to get the job.
Regardless, the Jets will probably be tempted to use Tebow in more ways than just the backup quarterback, as Tannenbaum also alluded to. However, it’s kind of unclear what “other roles” and “other packages” Tebow may be used in, but it’s safe to assume that means some sort of Wildcat or option offenses.
Regardless, it’s somewhat of a confusing situation all things considered, and we probably won’t get a true answer until the season finally starts.
