During a live goal-line drill Thursday morning, Tim Tebow got the Jets into the end zone three times.
And you know who was fine with that? Mark Sanchez.
The Jets starter was supportive of Tebow’s two running scores and one pass, sounding comfortable up there on the high road.
“We got to get it in the end zone. I don’t care,” Sanchez said, via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “Whatever we have to do — and Coach [Tony] Sparano’s going to be the judge there on what exactly he wants. But if that’s what he wants and if that’s what puts it in the endzone, fine. We’ll drive it 99 yards and he can run it in. It doesn’t matter.”
Sanchez hasn’t always been so welcoming of his practice snaps going away, but wasn’t fighting it Thursday.
“It’s bigger than what one person on this team wants,” Sanchez said. “We really are in the business of winning and we have to be selfless, myself included. That’s the most important thing.”
That’s smart for him. He has to appear in control of this situation, if he wants to maintain control of his huddle.
At the moment, Tebow’s a curiousity and a change-of-pace guy. If you can manage that role, and the fan furor that will accompany it if he’s successful at all, there’s a way to make this thing work.
Sanchez not fighting it shows he understands that, and that’s a strong first step for him.