Tim Tebow was bashed by many teammates during the season, but there is at least one Jets player who believes in him. Defensive lineman Mike DeVito says he wishes Tebow got a shot to lead the team.
DeVito made his comments during an interview with WFAN’s Evan Roberts and Joe Benigno on Friday.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel for Tim and how it went down,” DeVito said. “I don’t make the decisions as far as who goes in there. I’m not qualified to do that, and I trust the guys that we have to do that, but Tim has such an intangible in the type of leader and the type of person that he is. I feel like it makes everybody around him play at a higher level. I would have liked to see him get a chance.”
The Jets went 6-10 this season and quarterback Mark Sanchez turned the ball over a league-worst 26 times. He was benched during his poor performance in Week 13 against the St. Louis Rams. Tebow was out with a rib injury that game, and Greg McElroy got the chance to replace him. Then Tebow was passed over in favor of McElroy again in Week 16.
Tebow only got to attempt eight passes all season. Head coach Rex Ryan said after the season he didn’t feel like Tebow could have helped the team win. DeVito thinks much higher of Tebow.
“I think he’s a great leader, I think he’s a guy that could have won games for us, and I think that’s why we had him here,” DeVito said. “… I really do feel like with Tim at the helm, there is an aspect of it that you can’t really put into words, but guys just want to rally behind him. And when you put Tim in that leadership role, that’s where he excels … I think (if) you put Tim in there, I think we win games. I really believe that.”
Though DeVito expressed his support for Tebow, he said he feels like Sanchez could get back to winning if he gets his receivers back healthy.
We agree with most of what DeVito said. It made no sense for the Jets to bring in Tebow and never use him, especially given how poorly Sanchez played throughout the season. We have little doubt Tebow would have made them more competitive.
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