Transcript of Jets quarterback Tim Tebow's news conference in front of his locker in the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center on Thursday afternoon:
On working with Mark Sanchez…
It's been great. We've had a great relationship ever since he hosted me at USC and we had a lot of fun together and a great experience. We've got a lot of stuff to talk about, and always going back and forth, we have a very fun quarterback room. We have a good time.
On how he'll be used in the offense…
You know what, we are all just learning the same offense right now and we're all just going out there and competing and trying to learn together and help one another and coach one another and just try to get everything down because it's a new offense for all of us.
On playing special teams…
I'm just doing whatever they want me to do. I'm just going out there and working hard right now and trying to get better in the weightroom and on the practice field and just compete a little bit every day.
On how he and Sanchez will get along…
I think it will be great. We have a great relationship. We're friends and we hang a lot on the practice field, in the locker room, in the weightroom and outside of the complex. I think it will be great.
On his transition from being a starter to being a backup…
Just every day, you've just got to work on trying to handle it your best, trying to be your best and trying to improve every single day. It doesn't change my mindset or attitude or anything. It's just another opportunity and another challenge. Every day presents itself with enough of those, and you just have to have a great attitude and approach it the right way.
On handling the pressure of playing in New York…
Same as I've always have. I really try not to worry about it and try not to let it affect my life too much and just try to be the best teammate and have the best attitude and try to be the best young man I can be in a lot of different ways and try not to let it affect how I live or the way I live.
On playing in front of Jets fans…
I think it will be great. I'm excited about it. You know, I can't wait to get to the stadium, actually. That will be a lot of fun, looking forward to the season getting here and really putting on the pads and really going out there and playing. This will suffice for now.
On how much he wants to start…
I just go out there every single day and compete as much as I can and try to be a great teammate. That's the great thing about football. You're together with these guys every day, training and working out, pushing each other and encouraging each other. That's fun to really build relationships. Even though it's only been three or four weeks, I feel like I've got a great relationship with a lot of guys in the locker room.
On Peyton Manning…
He's one of the best quarterbacks of all time. He's someone that I've always watched growing up. He's done amazing things and I think he will go down as one of the best of all time.
On Manning replacing him in Denver…
I just look at it as I have a new challenge and a new opportunity here as a Jet. I don't necessarily look at it as losing my job. I'm just at a new place where I'm excited to be and it's going to be fun.
On what the fan reaction will be if Sanchez struggles…
I just think about it as you have to take it one day at a time you and can't worry about what the future holds. You have to just worry about today. That's all we know and so we have to make the best we can of each day and worry about how we can get better as a football player and as a person.
On being a backup quarterback…
You always have challenges and you are always going to have new opportunities. I think you just have to handle it as best you can, whatever your role is, wherever that is, and that's just something that I think I really tried to learn early on at Florida. You can't control everything around you. You can't control your situations. There are only a few things you can control, and that's your attitude and effort and how you approach every situation. That's all I worry about, because I know at the end of the day that's all I can control.
On learning the new offense…
I think every day we're learning. We're learning the offense, we're learning new situations and everything that's coming up. I think my whole career has helped to train me and prepare me for every situation I've been in, especially for now. I just try to learn from every situation a little bit and try to get something out of it and really try to view everything in a positive light and that's how I'm trying to view everything here.
On if he feels he is a better passer now…
Well, I hope so. I hope I've improved. I've been working pretty hard at doing that. I feel like I had a good offseason before I got here, and being here and working with Coach Sparano and working with Mark and working with Coach Cav [QBs coach Matt Cavanaugh] on our drills and footwork and mechanics every day, I hope I'm improving. That's my goal and I believe it's happening.
On developing relationships with the other offensive players…
I think I've got a great relationship with all of the receivers, tight ends, running backs, and I feel we're working well together. We are still learning timing and how they run their routes and how best they catch it and what routes they're best at. That's something that will continue to be developed over time. We are very blessed as quarterbacks to have some very talented receivers, tight ends and running backs that can make you look pretty good as a quarterback.
On if he and Sanchez hang out outside of the complex…
I mean, we had dinner out the other night in the city, just hanging out as teammates, as friends.
On how his relationship with Sanchez is developing…
Great. We've always had a fun relationship since USC. We had a good time on that trip and kind of built that relationship the last few years of seeing each other at awards or banquets or certain things like that. He's definitely a fun-loving person that likes to have a lot of fun and so do I, so we have a good time out there.
On his relationship with Sanchez on the field…
It's been great. Just working together, pushing each other, learning from each other, spending extra time in the film room, talking about college days to just talking about different teams that we faced and just going over things together. We're learning the same offense, something that we haven't been in before, and so just really trying to learn it together. It's been fun.
On if any ground rules have been set with Sanchez for anything that may test their relationship…
No, we haven't set any ground rules.
On how they would handle controversy during the season…
I think we just have a good friendship and really just can't let outside circumstances get in the way of our friendship or how we handle each other. I think that's the cool thing about being friends is, you know, we can talk, we have an open relationship, and we're obviously teammates, and then friendship comes before what other outside people say.
On if there will be two different offenses with himself and Sanchez…
I just look at it as the Jets offense and whatever Coach Sparano wants to do, I'm game and I'm excited about it.
On his role…
Right now we're really just putting in the offense and installing the offense and just trying to learn that. I'm sure that will take a little while, putting in an entire offense and learning the downs and everything to do. That's our main focus. It's not necessarily special situations or anything like that, just trying to learn the offense.
On playing a position other than quarterback…
Whatever they want me to do, they know that I'll do it with all my heart, so I'm just going to go into every day trying to get a little bit better.
On if his goal is to be the starter…
You know, right now we're just trying to take it one day at a time, improve every single day, not worry about what the future holds and just worry about today because that's all we know that we're given. Just try to get better today and try to improve a little bit.
On if it's fair to say he wants to be the starter…
It's fair to say that I always want to be my best, as good as I can possibly be, and push myself to the limits, just as far as quarterback, passer, learning defenses, learning offenses, just trying to be the best football player and person that I can possibly be. That's what I'm not going to settle for anything less than.
On if he is not contending to be the starter…
I'm just trying to make myself a little bit better every day and push myself.
On if he sees a quarterback competition between Sanchez and himself…
I see it as every day we're both trying to get better, and Greg [McElroy], that goes for all three of us. We're trying to get better and trying to push each other to get better and help each other get better and I think that's what it's all about. We are on the same page and we want each other to do well.
On if the players next to his locker will be upset with the amount of reporters at his locker...
I don't think so [laughing]. Ask them, they just think it's funny. I think they know there's nothing I can do either way to change it. So just handle it as best you can, and we just have a good time. And I don't really think my teammates will have too big of a deal with any of this. I think more than anything, it will be just a few jokes that will probably be pretty funny.
On if the players will get asked a lot of Tebow questions…
I'm sure it will be pretty funny to them.
On Tony Sparano…
Coach Sparano, I was blessed to be with him for a week at the Senior Bowl and that was awesome. He's a great coach and he's very passionate about football and very passionate about helping young men, encouraging them. He's a great coach. He knows football very well and is very intense and passionate about coaching, which is awesome. He loves it. He loves ball and he loves being around guys that love ball and it's fun to have a coach like that.
On if has played a position other than quarterback…
I have not.
On Eli Manning "Tebowing" on Saturday Night Live…
I didn't see it. I heard it was funny, though. I heard he did a good job. That's good.
On playing special teams…
They haven't told me anything.
On if diplomacy is part of the job of a backup quarterback…
It's part of the job. You just try to handle everything as best you can. Gosh, I feel like I say that a lot [laughter].
On if his priority is on learning the quarterback position first…
Right now, it's going out there and trying to learn the offense first and foremost, being able to manage the offense, being able to run the offense, and try to improve every single day. My fundamentals, my mechanics, all the things I'm working with with Coach Cav and Coach Sparano, that's my focus every day.
On if he ever played with a quarterback who was more popular than him…
Have I ever played with one? It's hard to say. Pop Warner days, there was one kid that was really popular [laughter].
On the fact that his specific roles have not come up in any meetings with the coaches…
Our main focus is just to learn this offense. We have a lot of time for me to get into that when we go to training camp, so first and foremost is just learning the offense, because we're all learning the offense together. As a quarterback, when you learn the offense, you have to learn what everybody does, so it makes you learn all positions, everything that's going on on the field and how to handle that.
On if all his practice reps have been at quarterback…
Yes sir.
On the difficulty for opposing defenses with two quarterbacks to prepare for…
It will be interesting to see how teams will try to play us. We don't even know necessarily how we are going to try to attack people. We haven't started game-planning and we haven't gotten into any of that. It's a little premature to think about that but we have so many weapons, from great tight ends in Cumberland, Baker and Keller to our great receivers and we've got so many guys that can stretch the field, guys that are hard to cover man-to-man. And we've got some fast backs in [Joe] McKnight and power in Shonn Greene, so we have a pretty versatile offense that can do a lot of things and I think that will put stress on defenses.
On his biggest concern…
I try not to view things in life like that, as biggest concern. I try to view it more as a positive, what's the bright spot, what's the exciting part, and there's a lot. There's a lot that's exciting about being a Jet — playing for coaches that are passionate and playing for coaches that love ball and being on a great team with guys that love football and want to be better every single day, and being a part of that and just trying to be a little piece to help this team win a few games.
On how he likes the area and if it is different from where he grew up…
The New Jersey part is not too different. I grew up on a farm and they said, "Oh, you're flying into New York City and you're born in a rural area." It's actually very nice and it's very different in the city. This is more similar to what I grew up in, but it's fun to be able to go in the city, only 40 minutes away, and being able to have a lot of great options to do a lot of fun things is cool as well. I think it's a pretty cool dynamic.
On if he has attended any position meetings other than the quarterback meetings…
Maybe just to bother some coaches that were in there [joking]. No, I've just been in quarterback meetings and the offensive meetings.
On what he's looking forward to now…
I don't know, probably training camp. I think that will be a lot of fun. I think that's really when teams kind of make or break their seasons, in training camp, coming together and becoming one team, and I think, that will be fun to see what happens.
On if dealing with the media is exhausting…
Not really. It's kind of the first time I've had to talk to y'all. It's not really exhausting at all. I think it's more if you let it become exhausting and worry about it. I really don't. I just have fun and live my life and thankfully I don't have to worry about too much. And I don't have to live the roller-coaster that the media and most of the world makes of my life so that makes it fun as well.
On starting over after establishing himself as a starter last season…
It's a new opportunity and that's how I look at it. It's exciting to be around new coaches, innovative coaches. Being around Coach Ryan, he's a lot of fun to be around. Being around a great team, even though it's been very successful the last few years — I know because I had to play against them two times over the last few years, and you know what you're getting when you play the Jets. And it's fun to be on a team that's a physical team. You know when you line up that we are going to be a team that's going to be tough and physical and hopefully teams don't necessarily like going against that too much.
On if his presence impacts Sanchez's ability to lead the team…
I hope not. I don't think so. I think that Mark has been a great leader and I think he will continue to be a great leader. He's someone that works very hard in the weightroom, in the classroom, on the practice field, and you know, I think that's a big key.
On if both he and Sanchez can be leaders…
On a football team, you always have a lot of leaders and you always have leaders in different roles at different times. I think we are very blessed to have a lot of leaders from Santonio Holmes to Bart Scott to David Harris to a lot of guys that are leading in a lot of different ways, and I think that's huge.
On if any of his teammates mentioned the game he played against the Jets last season…
Maybe once or twice.
