The Jets offense didn’t quiet any doubters in its first action of the preseason.
Tim Tebow was intercepted by Bengals rookie linebacker Vontaze Burfict on his last throw of the night, a poorly thrown ball in the general vicinity of tight end Jeff Cumberland that Burfict picked with a nifty diving grab. That ended Tebow’s night about halfway through the third quarter with the Jets trailing 17-3. Tebow was 4-of-8 for 27 yards overall and didn’t look much different as thrower than when we last saw him in a game.
He didn’t look much different as a runner either. His 34 rushing yards were the most positive thing to happen for the Jets offense when either of their first two quarterbacks were in the game. Mark Sanchez completed 4-of-6 passes for just 21 yards during his quarter of play and the running backs weren’t able to make much impact against the Bengals front seven.
That front seven had a strong night, sacking Sanchez twice to go with their work against the run. If the Bengals injuries -- defensive end Carlos Dunlap, linebacker Rey Maualuga and safety Taylor Mays all left Friday night’s game -- don’t get in the way, Cincinnati should have a good defense again this season.
The Jets never ran Tebow with the first-team offense in one of the packages designed to take advantage of his running ability, so we haven’t seen the full complement of what they plan to do this season. They’ll have to hope