Mike DeVito was hoping for a little more Tebow Time.
The Jets defensive end said yesterday on WFAN he feels bad about how things “went down” between the team and Tim Tebow and wishes the much-maligned quarterback had gotten more of an opportunity to play.
“I would have liked to see him get a chance,” DeVito said.
Tebow threw eight passes all season and carred the ball 32 times for 102 yards. He was skipped over for Greg McElroy when coach Rex Ryan benched starter Mark Sanchez in Week 16.
And Tebow was an afterthought again when McElroy suffered a concussion and Ryan installed Sanchez back at quarterback for the team’s season finale last week against the Bills.
Tebow was not happy with either decision and is expected to be released or traded after the postseason. The Jets lost their last two games to finish 6-10 and miss the playoffs for the second straight season.
DeVito said he doesn’t make the decisions and “I trust the guys that we have to do that, but Tim has such an intangible in the type of leader and the type of person that he is.
“I think he’s a great leader. I think he’s a guy who could have won games for us, and I think that’s why we had him here.
“I really do feel like, with Tim at the helm, there is an aspect of it that you can’t really put into words, but guys just want to rally behind him. And when you put Tim in that leadership role, that’s where he excels. … I think [if] you put Tim in there, I think we win games. I really believe that.”
DeVito, who has been with the team since 2007 and will become a free agent after the postseason, added he has faith in Sanchez.
“If he gets his confidence back, gets around his receivers again and gets Santonio [Holmes] back, I really feel like Mark can be the quarterback he was in 2009, 2010 when we were winning all those games,” he said.
DeVito said he isn’t sure if he’ll remain with the Jets. He had 52 tackles, a sack and two forced fumbles in 2012.