CORTLAND, N.Y. -- Tim Tebow looked like, well, Tim Tebow in his first New York Jets training camp practice.
He may be the multi-tasking, backup quarterback of all trades, but it was evident Friday why Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan keeps insisting Mark Sanchez has a lock on the starting quarterback gig.
Sanchez showed a stronger command of Offensive Coordinator Tony Sparano's up-tempo attack in moving the team and firing a 40-yard touchdown pass to rookie Stephen Hill that grazed the fingertips of leaping CB Darrelle Revis on the first play of 11-on-11 team drills.
Sanchez completed seven of eight passes with an interception by Revis in full-team drills.
As for Tebow?
The fan favorite had his moments, including a 49-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jeremy Kerley down the right sideline. On the other hand, Tebow underthrew speedy Hill on a deep pass that was batted down.
At other times, when the defense caused a swirl of confusion, Tebow double-clutched, and his signature long release caused Sparano to growl, "Come on, Tim! On time.''
Another time, Sparano yelled, "C'mon, get your team in and out,'' when Tebow was too slow in maintaining the fast tempo Sparano has preached.
In all, Tebow completed four of five passes on 12 snaps with the first-team offense against the second-team defense but also had a mishandled snap and a batted pass.
"I felt pretty good about how I played out there,'' Tebow said. "All of us have a long way to go, including myself.
"I felt pretty comfortable.''
Tebow also received reps on the punt protection team as the up-back, sprinting hard downfield after each play.
"I'm getting a lot of looks,'' Tebow said. "I take a lot of pride in coming in here in pretty good shape and being a well-conditioned athlete.''
As far as a well-tuned quarterback, Tebow remains a work in progress with his spotty accuracy. He fired one pass too high off WR Santonio Holmes' raised hands when Sparano said he should have hit the receiver in the body on one missed slant route. Despite working hard this offseason to refine his mechanics, Tebow continued to be up and down like the unconventional passer with a 46.5% completion percentage for the Denver Broncos last season.
"I saw some good things,'' Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan said. "I like the way he's looking down the field. He made some nice throws. But then he underthrew the big wideout Hill. But that's going to happen.
"But overall, I'm impressed with Tim the way he throws the ball down the field. Sometimes the touch on the shorter passes ... he's working harder at getting better on those things as well.''
Ryan also remains a work in progress, having made a conscious offseason decision to drop the Super Bowl guarantees only to say near the end of his 20-minute news conference, "I look at myself as the best defensive coach in football.''
He added: "That's saying something. Because (Pittsburgh Steelers Defensive Coordinator) Dick LeBeau's pretty darn good. (New England Patriots Head Coach) Bill Belichick's pretty good. And you know what, I believe it because of the guys I've coached, there's no doubt about that and the guys I've coached.
"That's how I feel.''
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