Tebow-Effect Is An Afterthought In Denver

Tim Tebow’s Bengal-induced rib injury makes him questionable for Saturday’s game against the Lions. Before Tebow’s departure during practice yesterday, Josh McDaniels thought that Tebow was going to play about the same amount of time that he played in Cincinnati, but less time when the team faces the Steelers in week 3 of preseason. Oh, how things have changed.  

Tebow did not participate in practice today, and it’s uncertain when he will return. This is disappointing after his solid performance in his first NFL game. He went 8-13 for 105 yards and 1 rushing touchdown in the team’s 24-33 loss.

As Tebow finished out his college career at Florida, people questioned his ability to make it as an NFL quarterback. Many critics pointed to his slow release throwing motion and lack of experience out of the shot-gun offense as a couple of the reasons why he won’t be a successful quarterback in this league.

Sunday’s game in Cincinnati made the critics eat some of their words. However, it’s not something to get too excited about yet.

“He [Tebow] did some good things and some things we want to change. We’re not going to sit there and talk about fundamentals while he’s out there playing in a game,” said Coach McDaniels before Wednesday’s practice.

It’s hard to argue that Tebow’s presence in the NFL garners up a lot of attention – maybe as much as any other rookie who’s ever entered the NFL. The attention, although unwanted, is easily justified. His success and character in college were top notch, but McDaniels thinks Tebow’s legacy will only grow further based on his output at the professional level.

“I know there have been other high draft choices that came into positions where they didn’t necessarily play right away. The attention and the accolades that he receives are for what he did. I think the things going forward that he does to help our football team will really determine how people feel about him, how we feel about him, how his teammates feel about him, how the league views him, and that’s what’s important. He’s always going to be a Heisman Trophy winner and a national champion, but I think he’s moved past that because he’s trying to become a good NFL quarterback.”

When asked about “Tebow-mania” being a distraction for this Broncos team, McDaniels said that the start of the regular season will help calm the Tebow-effect.

“I don’t think it’s any distraction. I think once the season starts, all the hype will be about what you’re doing, what your record is, where you stand, and do you make the playoffs.”

McDaniels was asked if Tebow’s advancement thus far has been a normal process.

“I think its [his advancement] normal. I think we kind of knew where we felt like he was at before we drafted him. We felt like mentally, he was capable, but being capable mentally, to understand things and being able to go out there and run them against NFL defenses at the speed that you have to execute them are not the same thing. Every rookie, particularly at quarterback, goes through a learning curve where you’re going to make plenty of mistakes, and the big goal is to try not to repeat that error.”

The way to correct errors so that they do not happen again is to get the repetition in now. With the injury set-back, it takes potential progress away from the Tebow.

“Each rep is valuable in practice. Each rep that he’ll take in preseason will be very valuable to him and to our team, and we’ll see how far we can go. It’s a steep learning curve for any new quarterback and Tim’s no different,” said McDaniels.

Tim may be no different, but the world doesn’t see it that way.

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