National Football League

Rex 'fortunate' to have Sanchez, Tebow

Published Mar. 22, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Jets head coach Rex Ryan said Thursday he is excited to welcome Tim Tebow to the team, but sought to downplay the idea he will have a quarterback controversy on his hands.

"I look at it this way. We're incredibly fortunate to have a couple of quarterbacks with playoff wins," Ryan said Thursday, according to CBSSports.com. "Obviously, both (starter Mark Sanchez and Tebow) have been fairly successful ... What Tim gives us is another great competitor."

Ryan echoed the team's position that Sanchez, who just signed a contract extension after the Jets failed to land Peyton Manning, is unquestionably the starter.

"Mark's a great competitor. I know that about Mark. Mark is our starting quarterback. There's no doubt about it," Ryan said. "Will we have some things for Tebow each week? Absolutely."

Ryan said Tebow will "fit right in with the guys we already have," and the former Broncos quarterback is right to be excited about joining the Jets after Wednesday's trade with Denver.

"Why wouldn't you be? You're coming to the New York Jets," Ryan said. "We have a lot of great players on our team. ... We have a lot of positive things about us."

Ryan said Tebow will prove valuable in the team's Wildcat offense, which suffered after losing Brad Smith in free agency before last season.

General manager Mike Tannenbaum said Thursday the team will design a package of plays specifically for Tebow to run each week.

Ryan was in Louisiana attending LSU's pro day for its draft-eligible players. Tebow arrived in New Jersey Thursday afternoon.

share

Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

National Football League