As the New York Jets continue to figure out who will be their starting quarterback for the future, Tim Tebow has been welcomed to training camp, but Mark Sanchez is getting anything but welcome remarks from a quarterback coach working with Tebow.
Last week, it was Jeff Garcia, the quarterback coach for Sanchez, that took shots at Tebow, calling for the jets to get rid of him as he was a "distraction" to Sanchez's development as a quarterback and undermined the confidence of the Jets' starting quarterback of last season.
This time around, Steve Clarkson, a private coach who is working with Tebow, told reporters in a conference call that the Denver Broncos had traded Tebow to New York instead of his hometown Jacksonville Jaguars because they were hoping for Tebow to fail.
Tebow made a splash in 2011 when he filled in for injured starter Kyle Orton and quarterbacked the Broncos to the AFC West title and a playoff win, his relentless play and controversial touchdown prayer celebration earning him legions of fans as "Tebowmania" swept the nation.
However, the Broncos jettisoned Tebow for NFL superstar quarterback Peyton Manning in that offseason; Manning, an MVP candidate, would go on to lead the Broncos to a second straight AFC West title last season and a 13-3 record, turning Denver into AFC powerhouses once again.
Clarkson, in hindsight, felt that Denver knew what it was doing when they sent Tebow to New York, a place he is sure they knew Tebow would struggle in, in an effort to sabotage their AFC rival Jets.
"I think he was purposefully sent to New York," Clarkson told the Newark Star-Ledger Wednesday. "From the standpoint: You send him to a situation where you have instability with your coach -- you don't know if he's coming or going. You have a fragile-minded Mark Sanchez at quarterback. You stick Tim Tebow in there and you kill two birds with one stone. So if you're Denver, you've got to be thinking, 'We send him to New York, we basically kill an opponent and, at the same time, Tim Tebow doesn't come back to bite us in the proverbial butt, if you will, because he's not going to make it out of there.'
On Thursday, Clarkson clarified his comments on "The Dan Patrick Show," as NFL.com reports, claiming that he didn't try and imply that the Broncos "did anything wrong on their end."
"... You're bringing in Peyton Manning -- who there's no argument that he should be the quarterback -- and that was the right choice. But now what do you do with Tim Tebow? It was a highly sensitive situation there because you did have a split fan base, at some point, that really wanted (Tim) to be their quarterback and felt that he was dealt unfairly."
However, as ESPN notes, Broncos vice president John Elway has explained several times that Tebow was given the choice between going to the Jets or to the Jaguars.
Clarkson also touted Tebow's footwork and "powerful arm," expressing confidence that Tebow's mechanics have grown and that he is ready to be successful in the NFL.
However, that still might not be in New York, as the Jets have been attempting to trade Tebow unsuccessfully, with rumors swirling that they may simply release him prior to the 2013 season if they find no takers for him.