Tim Tebow's QB Tutor: Jets' Sanchez 'Fragile-Minded'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The fun never ends in Florham Park.
Tim Tebow's private tutor unleashed a conspiracy theory Wednesday regarding the quarterback's 2012 trade from Denver to New York, and managed to call Sanchez "fragile-minded" in the process.
"I think he was purposefully sent to New York," quarterback guru Steve Clarkson said of Tebow during a conference call, according to the Newark Star-Ledger. "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.'"
He went on: "You send him to Jacksonville, all of a sudden, he's got that fanbase behind him and all of a sudden, he's doing what he's done all his life: That's win games. That would put a lot of ill will toward your organization. There's a lot of politics that go on with it. I think Timmy was just unfortunate to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
The hole in Clarkson's story? It's been established that Tebow had his choice between the Jets and Jaguars.
He chose New York.
"You know, we laid it out to Tim. We said 'It's up to you,'" Broncos executive vice president of football operations John Elway told WFAN radio in January. "I'm not going to tell you which deal I liked better. But I will tell you that we did give him the option."
Tebow was a virtual non-factor in the Jets' anemic offense last season, completing six of eight passes for 39 yards, and rushing for 102 yards on 32 carries. He never found the end zone.
The 25-year-old wasn't given much of an opportunity to his groove in fired offensive coordinator Tony Sparano's system. His plays in the Wildcat were easy to predict -- and therefore unsuccessful. Tebow, mostly used as a punt protector on special teams, was passed over in favor of third-stringer Greg McElroy when Sanchez was sent to the bench late in the season.
"I think in Tim's case, they walked him into New York and said, 'We've got four plays for you. You execute these four plays and that's all you're going to get,' " said Clarkson. "Well, when you walk on the field and that's all you practice, and you don't get any meaningful reps and you walk into a game and basically the defense is telling your offensive line basically where the ball is going to go, it's pretty depressing and it doesn't give you much room for hope. I would hope whoever, wherever he ends up that they give him an opportunity, and I think if they do, they'll be pleasantly surprised. I think the guy still can play."
Clarkson worked with Tebow for three days in Arizona last month, the Star-Ledger reported. He aimed to improve the quarterback's footwork and "very coachable and very minor" throwing mechanics.
"There was a lot of Tai Chi that we kind of put into his workouts where we really taught him to make his body work as one unit," Clarkson said, according to Newsday. "Most people who watch him will say for the most part that he has his moments when he throws in rhythm, he throws quite well. It's when he had to reset himself, that's when he would tend to get off balance and the ball would come off in an unnatural manner."
Clarkson also took a shot at Sanchez in a post to his blog on March 22, titled "The Sabotage Of The Quarterback." In it, he called Sanchez a "shadow of himself" and "a broken spirited quarterback with very little support."
Tebow reported to the Jets' voluntary workouts on Monday despite reports that he won't be sticking around long. The Jets signed David Garrard this offseason to compete for the starting job with Sanchez and McElroy.
"I'm not saying he is, and I'm not saying he isn't (in the competition)," general manager John Idzik said of Tebow on Wednesday. "I'm just saying let's let things play out."
Tebow recently worked out with former Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde in Florida.
Last week, Sanchez's offseason tutor, former NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia, implored the Jets to get rid of the Tebow "distraction."
Well, OK then. Do you buy any of what Clarkson is selling? Sound off in the comments...
