The Broncos have a bye this week, which is a good thing for coach John Fox.
If he makes the seemingly inevitable move to elevate Tim Tebow to the starting quarterback gig, Fox will have more practices to adjust the offense and get Tebow ready.
If Fox decides to keep starting Kyle Orton or goes to Brady Quinn, he will have longer to build a fortress around his house so that the citizens of Denver don’t attack Fox’s family.
Fox did not name a starter after Denver’s loss on Sunday. Tebow struggled with his accuracy and mishandled three center-snap exchanges, but his running ability helped put some points on the board for the Broncos. Mike Klis of the Denver Post expects Fox to name Tebow the starter on Tuesday.
We’d expect that to happen too, but do not underestimate Fox’s ability to fly in the face of public demand. Fox held on to Jake Delhomme far longer than expected, including after one in-game benching. Still, Orton’s play has made life difficult for the 1-4 Broncos, among other things.
Orton is averaging 6.32 YPA, which is 28th out of 32 starting quarterbacks. He’s also 28th in passer rating. Orton says it’s not because he feels the pressure from Tebow.
“People’s opinion don’t matter to me, man,” Orton said. “I left that a long time ago. I’ve been through that before. I’m just frustrated with the way we were playing, myself included.”
Orton will earn nearly $9 million for 2011, but it seems likely that he’ll earn the rest of it from the bench.