As former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow progresses through his rookie practices and training camp, Denver Broncos’ beat writers and other media members following the young signal caller will be quick to evaluate his each and every move. This is what occurred Friday as Tebow struggled with some passes during practice but simultaneously showed flashes of brilliance.
Frank Schwab of the Colorado Springs Gazette filed this play-by-play, singling out some of the more prominent mistakes Tebow made during seven-on-seven drills Friday:
Early in practice he missed receiver Alric Arnett, then a couple plays later threw way behind tight end Riar Geer. He had a pass tipped at the line that was intended to tight end Richard Quinn. A few plays later he missed badly to Quinn on a pass that hit the ground before it got to him. Tebow himself singled out another bad pass – a crossing route to open receiver Patrick Honeycutt that was behind Honeycutt and too low, and hit the ground.
Tebow continued to be a bit wild, missing some receivers by throwing behind or low or leading them too far. He did have some very nice throws, mostly on out routes – one of the toughest passes a quarterback can make. He had a fantastic throw to Arnett in the corner of the end zone that had great velocity. He called out a blitz at the line on one play, then calmly hit Arnett on a crossing route, showing he is starting to understand the offense a little.
Tebow recognized his struggles – as he usually does – and took them in stride. Extra scrutiny was on him Friday as only he and Brady Quinn (starter Kyle Orton was given the day off) were on the field throwing the ball.
“I was probably a little bit more happy with some of the reads,” Tebow told reporters. “I still got to get more consistent with some of them. Your accuracy comes when you know where to go and when to go to. […] Sometimes you’re still thinking, overthinking things sometimes instead of reacting and playing. I think that’s a big thing as a rookie. You’re trying to do everything right and thinking about everything. Am I doing this right? What’s he doing? How am I going to do this? Sometimes it’s just reacting and playing and playing and knowing your assignment.”
Regardless of Tebow’s early issues, head coach Josh McDaniels takes them in stride, remaining confident in his abilities and even going as far as to release the team’s previous third-string QB, Tom Brandstater, from his contract Friday.
“No issues, none at all in terms of [Tebow’s] arm strength, velocity, anything like that,” McDaniels said. “Time is progressing well in terms of understanding what the offense is asking him to do. No issues in terms of calling the plays in the huddle or communicating with his teammates and what he wants from them.
“Right now, until you understand exactly what’s going on every play, until you have your head and eyes in the right place in every snap as a quarterback playing in our system – or any other system at this level – it’s hard to consistently look the right way. There’s certainly a bunch of good plays, and there’s some other ones where we have to work hard to get him right. That’s what we’re doing, that’s what he’s doing.”
Photo Credit: Associated Press
Tags: Brady Quinn, Denver Broncos, Josh McDaniels, Kyle Orton, NFL, Tim Tebow, Tom Brandstater
With his first NFL minicamp in the rear view mirror, former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow returned to Denver, CO, Monday for his first set of organized team activities (OTA) with the Denver Broncos at their Dove Valley facility.
