Tim Tebow feeling better, but may still miss pre-season game against the Steelers
The Denver Broncos are taking a wait-and-see approach on whether their first-round draft pick, Tim Tebow, will play in Sunday’s pre-season game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tebow already missed the Broncos first home game a few weeks ago and is in jeopardy of missing the final pre-season game at Invesco Field at Mile High.
If Tebow does indeed sit out against the Steelers, Denver fans will have to wait until the start of the regular season to see the Broncos’ rookie quarterback take the field in a home game.
It is presumed that the former Gator suffered a rib injury during Denver’s pre-season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, when he ran the ball in for a seven-yard touchdown on the very last play of the game.
After sitting out last week’s pre-season contest against the Detroit Lions, Tebow was out on the field on Wednesday and practiced with the team on Thursday. "He's still pretty sore, and there are some things that I don't think he can really do effectively at this point," head Coach Josh McDaniels said. "But we've got a few more days here before the game."
Despite only playing in one pre-season game, Tebow completed close to 60 percent of his passes, did not throw an interception, and scored a rushing touchdown. His first throw in the NFL was a five-yard completion on a standard play-action swing pass to Marquez Branson, and overall, he did pretty well in his first appearance in the pros.
Although he is eager to get back on the field to practice a handful of plays specifically designed for him and fight for the backup role, Tebow isn’t certain when he will be back in the rotation.
"I don't know - (I'm) constantly getting better so I'm feeling better each and every day and that's as much as I can do - just try to get better every day," Tebow said. "The range of motion has been pretty good. The next thing is just contact."
But watching games from the sideline and from the coaches’ perspectives isn’t always a bad thing and does have its benefits.
“I think I was able to learn a lot - just one, from being in all the game-plan meetings - just understanding our game plan and the obviously, watching it from up top and seeing it. It can definitely look a lot easier from up top than it does when you're under center, but then just trying to know what the quarterbacks are thinking and walk through the steps in my head of the ‘Mike' calls and what I would do versus this and this and so I tried to play the game in my head."
Starter Kyle Orton and back-up Brady Quinn have been splitting reps at practice and shared snaps during last week’s exhibition against the Detroit Lions. Orton has taken command of this team and shown that he understands the Bronco’s complex offensive schemes and deserves to be their leader.
While Quinn has not had the success that he anticipated, he is too far behind Orton to challenge him for the reins of the Broncos’ offence.
“Obviously, I could've done some things better here and there," Quinn said about his poor pre-season performance. "But that's why we come out here to practice, that's why we're working on it. Things are never always as bad as they look and never as good as they look on film."
Tebow had a good chance to pencil his name above Quinn’s on the quarterback rotation, but the rib injury has slowed him down and Tebow is likely to enter the 2010 season third on the depth chart.
Tags: