FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — If Tim Tebow makes the Patriots’ final roster, it apparently won’t be just at quarterback.
After saying yesterday morning Tebow would be used “wherever he’s best for the team,” Bill Belichick then had the ex-Jet and all-around NFL lightning rod spend part of the first day of training camp catching passes with a group of running backs and receivers.
Tebow, signed last month after being released by the Jets in April following one lost season, certainly fared better catching passes than throwing them yesterday.
Tebow’s brief stint in 11-on-11 drills as the third-string quarterback included two ugly interceptions and a screen pass that prompted laughter and groans from the rain-soaked crowd when it fluttered to the ground like a wounded duck outside Gillette Stadium.
Fielding questions afterward for the first time since signing with the Patriots, Tebow said he had “fun” catching passes but offered little insight into the team’s plans for him in the offense.
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“I just do what I’m told and work as hard as I possibly can at what I’m asked to do,” he said. “I’ll do what [Belichick] asks me to do.”
Belichick didn’t provide many details on Tebow’s role, either, except to apparently confirm speculation Tebow won’t just be the No. 3 quarterback behind Tom Brady and Ryan Mallett.
“We’ll use Tim wherever we feel like he’s best for the team, and I know that’s what he’s committed to doing as well — whatever that is,” Belichick said. “He’s got a great work ethic. Great.”
Tebow also had little to say about former Florida teammate (and roommate) Aaron Hernandez, who is in jail not far from here on murder and gun charges stemming from the June 17 killing of friend Odin Lloyd.
Tebow called the Hernandez situation “heartbreaking and sad” but said he couldn’t comment any further because of a team-wide gag order on Hernandez put in place by Belichick.
Asked by The Post if he’s praying for Hernandez, Tebow said: “Of course, I am.”
Tebow only broke from his usual tight-lipped script when The Post asked his reaction to the heat his former college coach, Urban Meyer, is feeling for running what looks in hindsight like an outlaw program at Florida.
“Coach Meyer is a great man, one of the best I’ve had the privilege of being around,” Tebow said. “He’s someone that not only tries to win football games, but he’s someone that tries to invest in young men’s lives and help young men grow. He cares very deeply about that, and that’s one of the reasons I’m so close to him and why I’m proud of him.”
Tebow, meanwhile, refused to take any parting shots at the Jets despite Gang Green trading for him last year and then promptly burying him on the bench all season before cutting him.
Tebow wouldn’t call 2012 a wasted season, preferring to take the high road.
“I feel like every situation is a learning opportunity in life,” he said of his lone season as a Jet. “There are ups and downs, and there’s praise and criticism. You’ve got to learn to handle everything.”