Count Jets head coach Rex Ryan among those who has a case of Tebowmania.
Fielding roughly half a dozen questions during yesterday afternoon’s press conference about the role of Tebow in the Jets’ Wildcat offense, Ryan made it clear that his team’s backup quarterback will have a priority role in moving the ball down the field.
The biggest reason for the questions is the Jets’ unwillingness to reveal anything in the preseason — a complaint Ryan says he understands.
“I understand where it comes from. Tim, forget just being a popular football player, he’s a popular person. It is kind of funny, really, when you look at it; we’re just trying to field a good football team any way possible,” Ryan said. “I said from Day 1 that I thought Tim is an outstanding football player. We just haven’t put it out there in preseason games. I’ll guess we’ll find out on Sunday how much we use him.”
Ryan knows that after spending all offseason talking about it, he must now unveil the Wildcat in Week 1.
“If we don’t, everybody is going to be like, ‘Wait a second. You guys have been about the Wildcat. We haven’t even seen one snap of it.’ Sure, we’re going to run some Wildcat, there’s no doubt,” Ryan said. “Is it specific just against the Buffalo defense? No, it’s not, obviously.”
The message from Ryan is that the games that really matter lie ahead for his team.
“Now that [the season is] here, all that work that you’ve done, all the work your players have done — the lifting and the meetings — it’s for this,” Ryan said. “It’s not to win preseason games. It’s to be your best when the season starts.”
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