Sparano defends Tebow usage http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/jets/post/_/id/16141/sparano-defends-tebow-usage FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Despite a lack of productivity by Tim Tebow this past Sunday against the Dolphins, offensive coordinator Tony Sparano said Thursday there were some positives that came out of his Tebow usage. Sparano noted that the Dolphins burned a timeout when they saw Tebow and QB Mark Sanchez on the field at the same time, with Tebow lined up behind center in shotgun and Sanchez flanked to his side. "I think timeouts are golden," Sparano said. Sparano said he was amazed at the amount of on-the-field communication that occurs when Tebow steps onto the turf. He heard defensive players yelling, "Tebow's in! Tebow's in!" Tebow was in for a season-high 12 plays, but he ran only once for 5 yards (on a fake punt), was sacked for a loss of 5 yards and targeted once as a receiver (incomplete). Some other items of note from Sparano: • He absolved Sanchez of blame on his end-zone interception, a high fade pass intended for WR Stephen Hill. Sparano said Sanchez threw "the right ball to the right person." He didn't name names, but TE Jeff Cumberland hurt the play by running into the area of the pass, allowing his man -- S Chris Clemons -- to peel off him and make the interception. • Sparano said he watched only the last 22 plays of the game with the players, saying the offense played its "absolute best" in crunch time. • He said it was "pretty special" to receive a game ball from Rex Ryan. Sparano coached the Dolphins from 2008 to 2011, so it was a satisfying win.
If the Jets can get really smooth with, just playing it pretty cool and dictating to the defense, there's a real sense of haywire on the defensive side of the ball every time Tebow does something. It's because he's also a quarterback. Every time they see him, they're thinking something is up, but he's also a threat generally.
It's only a matter of time before Tebow has a huge game, and the opposing team will be all "Why did it have to be us? They couldn't figure out how to use him up until now."
Tony manned up on the interception call. Glad to see that. I'm also glad to hear Tony say stats are relative and performance is the measure.
The Jets need to have more than one play called when Tebow goes on the field. Buffalo also called a timeout when he did and that caused the Jets to go back to a run up the middle or something like that much as they did in the Miami game. You would think after the timeout they could shift into another formation and still confuse the defense as they do initially.
Based on the what the coaches said on the current news conferences posted on newyorkjets.com, there are always alternatives to the main play called.
Is he really proving himself a threat this season? Most of his runs have been extremely short yardage. He doesn't seem like more of a threat for the running game than any other RB on the team. He hasn't shown any serious ability as a receiver. During the fish game it seemed like he went out as a receiver and a few times the fish left him wide open because they knew Sanchez wouldn't throw it to him. (Yes, Sanchez blew the one pass that came Tebow's way.) He hasn't made any addition to the passing game, either. He had the one play in the fish game that looked like it could have been a pass and that ended in a sack because he didn't throw it away. During the preseason he made some terrible incompletions. So not really sure where the threat is for the passing game, either. I guess there's still some gas in the tank for the argument that Tebow draws confusion and it helps incrementally across the offense. While it seemed to be a big help in the Buffalo game, not so much in the other two.
Not at all -- barely anything has happened. No need to keep typing a long post. If you think this level of accomplishment is what gets Tebow fans excited, no wonder you don't get it.
The ball hit him in the head. Sanchez should have thrown that ball in front of Tebow and away from the defender, not behind him where the defender was.
You said he is a "threat generally" and I am trying to figure out how you came to that conclusion. Neither of us were talking about exciting fans until you brought it up in this subsequent post.
Based on what I have heard the Jets coaches say repeatedly, Tim is a threat and disruptive to Jets' opponents. I defer to those coaches. Otherwise discussing 'is a threat' or 'is not a threat' is a pissing contest.
the ball hit him in the head because he was expecting the pass.he needs to be more aware. sanchez is at fault for throwing to him
Let him throw once or twice so the friggin' defenses don't assume run every single time. They are wasting him. They can open up the run via the pass.
His play last year and the year before in the NFL. Kind of like if I said Stephen Hill is a "threat" with his speed to beat a cornerback deep, I would be referring to information about him that's not really been shown much this season, because he hasn't done too much in that regard. And so if you asked "Is Stephen Hill proving himself a deep threat with his speed this season," I would say "No, of course not, we've seen almost none of that from him." I would be referring to what I think he can do if he continues to get opportunities. As far as "exciting fans," the point is that nobody in the world would be excited if Tebow's production had ever been like what we've seen so far. It's been a big giant nothing. To use the only analogous situation I can think of, look at his rookie year. The Broncos used him much more sparingly, and it was more effective. Coming off the bench, he ran the ball 12 times that year, and three times it was for a touchdown, plus a passing touchdown (4 TD's). In fact, every time he came in anywhere close to goal line (red zone), it was one snap, touchdown. Never even took 2 tries. That's what it feels like when you're thinking "Try it more, try it more." But the Jets have the opposite situation -- they've been so uneven and seemingly random in how they use him, that you don't get the sense at all when he comes in that anything necessarily good will happen. Maybe two good plays, the rest either ho-hum or busted.
Frankly, it sounds to me like the Jets coaches got a little to enamored with the idea of "they don't know what to expect, let's force them to prepare for Tebow." That kind of thinking doesn't get far. Worry about developing plays they can't stop whether they prepare for it or not. Get about four direct snap plays with Tebow that are very difficult to stop. Use them in short yardage. Wait until it's shown itself to be "automatic" when used sparingly. Then you'll have something that teams kind of pull their hair out preparing for -- because they can't be certain you wouldn't just march down the field with it if it's shown they can't stop it. But to skip right to "let's drive them crazy, Tebow's over here, Tebow's over there, look he's catching a pass, he's gone for the whole game?" That's a misstep, to me. Maybe it wasn't what they set out to do, but it feels that way. Tebow's not a speed merchant, lethal from anywhere on the field. His danger comes in that he could be a threat at any time to pick up essentially yardage, while at the same time throwing a bomb for a touchdown.
Skip Bayless needs to stop speaking in absolutes. Stephen A: "They're ruining this guy's career". Does that actually matter to the Jets' interests? Not one bit. Also, didn't hear one mention of 2-1 in that clip.
