The Jets are set to open camp tomorrow at SUNY-Cortland (Jeff Zelevansky)
Jets Tebow camp … er, training camp begins Thursday when players report to SUNY Cortland.
Everybody in, the circus is about to begin.
Coming off a disappointing 8-8 season, the Jets have plenty of work to do from adjusting to a new offensive system to building the bonds that did not exist on last year’s team. In the middle of it all will be Tim Tebow, the most watched and talked about backup quarterback in the history of football.
Add all of that up and it should be an interesting three weeks in Cortland.
The Jets hope a return to their upstate retreat will help the locker room issues they had a year ago when the NFL lockout led to them holding training camp at their Florham Park headquarters.
“We weren’t as good as we wanted to be last year, plain and simple, but Cortland never hurts,” quarterback Mark Sanchez said. “I think it can only help us, especially with the off-the-field stuff, like camaraderie, keeping team morale high and getting guys excited.
“When you live with guys for two or three weeks, you know everything about them. That’s the best way to go into a season, really understanding each other, caring about each other and when you really care about something, you’ll protect it. That’s where we want to be on this team. We want to protect this team.”
Jets coach Rex Ryan has held off on making any Super Bowl predictions this year, but he guaranteed this year’s team will be closer than the 2011 Jets.
“I don’t know how many wins we’ll have, but I know we’ll have that corrected,” Ryan said of the chemistry problems. “We will have a close football team. We’re not going to beat ourselves with some of the in-fighting or all that other stuff. That’s a thing of the past. Again, I don’t think it was as bad as maybe people want you to think. I don’t believe it. But, it certainly was there.”
When the Jets acquired Tebow from the Broncos in March, a new wrinkle and potential drama was added. The Jets have made it clear Sanchez is the starter and there will be no quarterback competition in training camp. Still, every throw is going to be analyzed, every word about Tebow parsed and every movement followed.
Besides the large number of fans Tebow attracts, he draws a ton of media attention. ESPN is sending three reporters/analysts to Cortland to give updates during the opening days of camp from a full set.
Don’t expect Tebow or Sanchez to feed much into the media frenzy. Both have done their best to downplay the potentially sticky situation.
“One of my favorite quotes is, ‘I don’t know what my future holds but I know who holds my future,’ ” Tebow said. “That is something that gives me peace and comfort in whatever situation I am in and whatever circumstances are thrown my way. That is how I try to handle everything. I am not too worried about being the man. I am just worried about being the best man I can be.”
In the non-quarterback division, a storyline that will play out in the early days of camp is how happy or unhappy cornerback Darrelle Revis is with his current contract. Revis is expected to report on time after contemplating a holdout, but he may still make waves about his deal.
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Tackle Jeff Otah, whom the Jets acquired from the Panthers in a trade Monday, failed his physical and has been placed on the active/physically unable to perform list, the team confirmed. That means he won’t be practicing tomorrow when the Jets begin training camp and the trade is now contingent on him passing his physical within the next seven days.
The Jets brought Otah in to compete for the starting right tackle job with incumbent Wayne Hunter. But Otah is a health risk. He has finished the last three seasons on injured reserve and played only 29 games in his four-year career.
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Hofstra University announced the Jets Aug. 21 practice, originally scheduled to be held at the university’s football stadium, will no longer be held due to several conflicts.
“We have had a great relationship with Hofstra University for many years and we understand the circumstances,” the Jets said in a statement. “Based on the timing, the team has decided to move the August 21 practice to MetLife Stadium.
“Although we’re sorry that the location of this year’s practice needed to be changed, we are committed to remaining connected to our Long Island fans.”
brian.costello@nypost.com