NY Jets' Tim Tebow makes his best showing after practice when he removes his ... - New York Daily News

William Perlman/The Star-Ledger

Tim Tebow trots off the field shirtless in the rain after Jets practice on Saturday.

CORTLAND â€" If fans were waiting for a show at the Jets’ first open practice of the year, they got it at the very end.

After a heavy downpour during Saturday’s morning session, Tim Tebow took off his jersey, revealing his sculpted body, before jogging off the field. Slowly, he sauntered away, as if “Chariots of Fire” was playing in the background, the only shirtless man around.

It was, if nothing else, a good-looking ending to an unspectacular practice by the famed backup quarterback. He was just 3-for-8 in 11-on-11 drills, numbers hampered by a wet ball and a few drops by receivers, but indicative of his performance as well. He was sacked once, by Aaron Maybin.

When Rex Ryan - who recently revealed he’d dropped over 100 pounds since having lap-band surgery in March of 2010 - was asked if he would follow his backup quarterback’s lead the coach deadpanned, “I don’t know if I’m there yet. No, trust me, I don’t want the fans not coming out just in case.”

Though a few warm cheers greeted him at the beginning of practice, Tebow drew the ire of one or two of the 2,588 fans in attendance after several missed targets.

Asked if Tebow being heckled surprised him, offensive coordinator Tony Sparano said, “Nothing surprises me. You’re going to throw bad ones, you’re going to throw three good ones.”

Asked about Tebow’s struggles, Ryan said, “You’re going to have some moments, I don’t care who you are.”
Sparano said he would get a sense “very quick” as to how much of a role Tebow will play in the offense.

Robert Sabo/New York Daily News

Jets quarterbacks Tim Tebow (l.) and Mark Sanchez chat.

Any Wildcat packages designed around Tebow would be easy to implement. “It’s not difficult to install it. It’s practice,” Sparano said. “We got to go out there and practice at a high speed. So if we were going to do something like that, we’d roll it out there and see what happens.”

“He’s more of a game player,” said Christian Buonsanto, a 17-year-old fan from Fort Lee. “I’m not going to worry about (practice).” Buonsanto was sporting a University of Florida Tebow jersey, and is both a Gators and Jets fan.

For the second day in a row, Mark Sanchez was sharper than Tebow. The starting QB completed six of eight passes in team drills, though he was also sacked by Maybin. “Especially in the Northeast, you have to be able throw the football in bad conditions,” said Ryan. “When you saw Sanchez out there today, I mean he can spin it, it doesn’t matter.”

Saturday marked the first day Tebow did not address the media, but his roommate, WR Chaz Schilens, shared some insight into the backup QB: “He’s really down to earth. He came prepared. He brought, other than a couple pillows, a nice blanket, a nice TV, plenty of food.”

When asked what Tebow’s biggest flaw as a roommate was, Schilens wasn’t ready to throw someone who sleeps in the same room under the bus. “I couldn’t tell you, it’s only the second day,” the receiver said.

The good news for Schilens is that while at camp, Tebow’s TV is Schilens’ TV. “He said I could (use it), yeah. He’s very sharing.”

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