CINCINNATI — Tebow Time hits prime time for the Jets tonight.
The Jets face the Bengals in their preseason opener, but all eyes will be on Tim Tebow, who will be wearing his green-and-white No. 15 jersey for the first time.
Tebow is excited to get out there and play, but he said Wednesday that he is not even sure what the coaches have planned for him. Coach Rex Ryan said the second-team will play for about two quarters, and he would not limit Tebow’s snaps because of his value to the team.
The left-handed backup quarterback/runner/punt protector knows tonight is just a dress rehearsal. The real season begins Sept. 9 against the Bills.
“[Tonight] is not the destination,” Tebow said. “It’s just another step in our journey to get better, so when we play Buffalo, we’ll be ready to go.”
Coincidentally, Tebow made his NFL preseason debut in Paul Brown Stadium two years ago with the Broncos. He made his mark in that game, rushing for a 7-yard touchdown as time expired in Denver’s loss.
“I remember, just because I’m super competitive, the meaningless last play of the game,” Tebow said. “Maybe four seconds left, three seconds left on the clock, and we’re at maybe the [7]-yard line going in and I drop back and I don’t have anyone and so I’m scrambling around and I run and I dive in the end zone and have a big collision. … So that was my first game in the NFL, my first preseason game in the NFL. But it was fun.”
Tebow has spent the past three months wearing the red “no-contact” jersey quarterbacks wear in practice. Tonight will be the first time he will be on the field in a real Jets jersey.
Just what he’ll do is a mystery. Will the Jets run the Wildcat?
“Yeah, we’ll see,” offensive coordinator Tony Sparano said. “There’s always a chance.”
Ryan said, deadpan: “Wildcat is something that Cincinnati needs to prepare for right now.”
The Jets have been working with Tebow on releasing the football quicker. Early in camp, he was holding the ball for way too long. The Jets introduced a timing device that sounds an alarm after a few seconds.
Sparano said he has seen Tebow grow since training camp began two weeks ago.
“I would say the improvements that he made since the start of this, you are not going to see them necessarily, but I see them quite a bit in that his identification of fronts, his identification of coverages, going through progressions,” Sparano said. “I think the ball every day is coming off of his hands a lot better. He is getting some of the quick game stuff out faster, which is something they had not done a whole lot with him in the past. I see improvements from the guy every day.”
Tebow also may make his “live” debut on the punt team. He has practiced as the personal protector all spring and summer. Now, the other team can hit him. Don’t be shocked if special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff dials up a fake just to get regular-season opponents thinking.
“I’ve never done it before. It will be fun,” Tebow said of his special-teams duties. “We’ll figure out what they’re doing and hopefully have something good ready for them.”
There will be other people on the field tonight, too. The Jets starters are expected to play about a quarter. Sparano said everything the offense runs will be “vanilla.” But that group will be focused on its pace, getting in and out of huddles quickly and running the most plays possible.
“We’re moving along at a great pace,” quarterback Mark Sanchez said. “This will be another good test for us, a good measuring stick.”