Jets offensive coordinator Tony Sparano met with the media for the first time since taking the job earlier this year on Thursday.
As you would probably imagine, the roles of the team’s two quarterbacks were a big part of the discussion. Sparano didn’t say much to deviate from the party line about Mark Sanchez -- “one hell of a player” -- and Tim Tebow. When asked to outline Tebow’s role, Sparano kept things a bit vague while sticking to the script laid down by Rex Ryan.
“I won’t give you the vision on what I think his role will be in the offense,” Sparano said, via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “I would just say that… I believe what Coach says. He can play anywhere from one to 20 snaps… somewhere like that. What coach said is 100 percent correct. As far as how we’ll use Tim or what we’ll do with Tim in that way, we’re going to keep that to us right now.”
Sparano said that it was a coincidence that they drafted three players who played on option offenses in college, something General Manager Mike Tannenbaum said as well over the weekend. The former Dolphins coach thinks Tebow gives the Wildcat a different element than it had when Sparano ran it in Miami and there was also talk of Tebow’s ability to do a lot of different jobs.
Sparano doesn’t anticipate any problems managing the situation nor does he think Tebow’s presence will do anything to stunt Sanchez’s growth which makes him just like the rest of the Jets coaches and executives. It’s certainly going to be interesting to see whether or not they are proven right.