Stationed to the right of the Jets’ offensive line on the game’s first play yesterday stood Tim Tebow, lining up as a wide receiver.
“It felt like I was open, too,” Tebow joked, laughing. “No, Mark [Sanchez] made the right read. It was fun, though.”
Tebow was, as usual, upbeat yesterday, speaking after the Jets destroyed the Bills in their season-opening 48-28 romp. Tebow was on the field for 12 plays, nine on offense and three on special teams, and while he showcased his versatility by working as a Wildcat quarterback, a receiver, a personal punt protector and more, he didn’t deliver much success.
The nine plays produced a total of 22 yards rushing and one incomplete pass (Sanchez threw incomplete to Stephen Hill on that game-opening play). Tebow himself carried it five times for 11 yards — never attempting a pass.
“After a little bit, we didn’t show too much. But we were able to get in there, have some efficient plays,” Tebow said of the Wildcat. “Obviously, we would have liked to break one open but I think it’ll continue to develop.”
Tebow did have an important special teams play when he recovered a fourth-quarter onsides kick after Buffalo had cut the lead to 41-28. Also, while the Jets used Tebow a lot early — five plays in the first quarter and two in the second — he only had two offensive snaps in the second half. Since the Jets were crushing Buffalo, it made little sense to reveal more of their Tebow packages.
“That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Sanchez insisted. “We’ve barely seen anything yet, so we’ve got plenty more in our grab bag of Wildcat.”
The Jets averaged 2.4 yards per play with Tebow on offense (nine plays, 22 yards) and 7.0 per play without him (52 plays, 362 yards).
“I don’t think they even made a big play when Tebow was on the field,” Bills’ linebacker Nick Barnett said, although he added, “It’s a good change-up for them.”
There were some boos for Tebow after he ran for no gain on a second-quarter play, but he said he didn’t hear them.
— Additional reporting by Anthony Sulla-Heffinger