Tim Tebow’s Role With New York Jets Not Quite Clear Going Into Week 1

Tim Tebow will be somewhere on the field when the New York Jets open the NFL season Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.

Just where you’ll see him, or how often he’ll be there, is the question that is still up in the air. During the preseason, Tebow has been seen in goal-line situations and running the Wildcat and has even taken reps on the punt team.

For more insight into just how the Jets might use the bruising quarterback, The Sporting News turns to a declaration team owner made while campaigning for Mitt Romney: “I think you can never have too much Tebow.”

Even though Tebow is officially a backup to quarterback Mark Sanchez, The Sporting News suspects he’ll see about 20 snaps in the game Sunday against the Bills. He could see playing time in other situations, the report noted. During training camp, the Jets played around with the idea of putting Tim Tebow on the punt team, though the risk of getting their quarterback hurt in the chaos of punt coverage could keep him out of these situations.

Whatever situation he plays, the Jets look like they’ll need some significant help on offense. They struggled to move the ball and score points during the preseason, but The Sporting News suspects it might be because the Jets and new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano didn’t want to tip their hand on a Wildcat-like offense.

Jets coach Rex Ryan implied that was the case.

“Our intent was, there’s no sense showing it right now in the preseason, just like I’m sure a lot of teams are saving specific things for their openers,” Ryan said. “We’re not different than a lot of teams doing that.”

“If we don’t (unveil it), everybody would be like, ‘Wait a second, you guys have been (talking) about the Wildcat, but we haven’t seen one snap of it,'” Ryan said. “We’re going to run some Wildcat, there’s no doubt.”

Tim Tebow’s knowledge of the Wildcat has been a benefit to the Jets defense as well, the New York Daily News reported. He’s been used to help the team prepare for the Bills, which last year ran a variation of the offense with former Jet Brad Smith as quarterback.

“Tebow knows it in and out,” safety Yeremiah Bell said. “He’s run it for so long. What better guy to practice it against than him? He knows everything.”

Tim Tebow has also been playing Smith’s role as a scout team for the Jets defense this week.