Tim Tebow (Getty Images)
IS THIS WORKING? After the first two games of the season, the Jets are still trying to find out how effective the combination of Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow can be this season. (CSM /Landov)
IS THIS WORKING? After the first two games of the season, the Jets are still trying to find out how effective the combination of Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow (inset) can be this season. (CSM /Landov; Getty Images (inset))
Two weeks into the Jets’ regular season, the only quarterback controversy is how effective either Mark Sanchez or Tim Tebow can be.
Sanchez followed up a strong performance in Week 1 against the Bills with a dud in Pittsburgh, failing to complete a pass for nearly an hour in real time and wilting after a strong start. Tebow, meanwhile, was nailed to the bench by the Jets coaches, getting just three snaps in the game.
Jets coach Rex Ryan described Sanchez as “a little inconsistent.”
Things seemed to turn for Sanchez on the team’s second drive when Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons delivered a bone-rattling, illegal hit on the Jets quarterback. Sanchez had been 4-for-5 for 80 yards before the hit. He went 6-for-22 for 58 yards after it.
Ryan and Sanchez insist he is fine. Ryan was so dismissive of the possibility Sanchez was injured he said he did not even check with the trainers to see if Sanchez was OK.
Sanchez has completed 53.7 percent of his passes in the first two games, a number Ryan wants to see increase.
“I’d like to see us at a higher percentage level,” Ryan said. “There’s a lot to do with it, not just Sanchez. We’ve got to catch the football better. Routes have got to be crisper. There’s a lot of things that go into it. But I was happy with the fact that we never turned the ball over. At times, I thought Mark really threw the ball well.”
Sanchez’s 138 passing yards are his lowest total since Week 4 of last season against the Ravens.
As for Tebow, he has not had an opportunity to throw the ball yet in two games. He has played just 12 offensive snaps so far, with 11 coming in the Wildcat and one coming as a slot receiver.
Ryan showed the first signs of getting tired of the Tebow talk at yesterday’s press conference. He was questioned about why the Jets did not use the Wildcat more in Pittsburgh before the Steelers took a big lead.
“We’ve always said from Day 1 we can do it 20 times, 40 times, 10 times, two times, whatever, but we determine that,” Ryan said.
He was then asked specifically about the series played by Tebow, who entered the game with 8:39 left in the third quarter. Tebow broke a 22-yard run and then handed to Joe McKnight for a 12-yard gain. After a Shonn Greene loss of 6 yards, Tebow came out and Sanchez went in. Ryan said after the game it was because they were “behind the sticks,” intimating that on second-and-16 the Jets did not trust Tebow to pass.
“He can pass,” Ryan said with a defensive tone when asked about that situation. “Right now we think Mark gives us the best chance to be successful in that particular situation against that particular opponent.
“Those are things that we’ll always look at. But I believe Tim can pass and, you know, we’ll make the decision on when a guy’s out there, when he’s not out there or whatever.”
Neither quarterback speaks to the media on Mondays. After the game, Tebow said he was not frustrated by his limited touches.
Greene, who plays in several of the Tebow packages, said he thinks the Wildcat can help the offense overall.
“It gives defenses a different look from your basic offense and they’ve got to prepare for that,” Greene said. “I think when you hit them back-and-forth with the regular offense and then the Wildcat, it leaves them disturbed.”