It might have taken four and a half games into the regular season, but it looks like the Broncos coaching staff has finally fallen in line with its fans: Head coach John Fox named Tim Tebow the team's starting quarterback on Tuesday. And that's where we'll begin today's discussion with Pete Prisco, Mike Freeman, Josh Katzowitz, Will Brinson and Ryan Wilson. Fire away.
"Well, I think [the] 1-4 [record] has a lot to do with it," Fox said, according to the Associated Press. "We haven't gotten it done as a football team. It's not one guy. It's not all Kyle Orton's fault. But we do have to make adjustments, we have to change and we have to do something to win football games."
Tebow replaced Orton in the second half of Sunday's loss to the Chargers where he completed 4 of 10 throws for 79 yards, including a passing and a rushing touchdown, and the Broncos were a last-second completion in the end zone from beating their division rival. Orton, for his part, has played poorly enough to lose the job, although the organization decided not to trade him to the Dolphins prior to training camp because Tebow wasn't deemed to be ready for the full-time gig. Now, it seems, that has changed. (Maybe Fox was blown away by Tebow outperforming Aaron Rodgers in Week 5.)
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| It's go time. (US PRESSWIRE) |
"He gave us a spark. That's Tim Tebow," running back Willis McGahee Sunday, via the Denver Post. "Everybody's been cheering for him for the longest, and now he finally got in and came in and moved the ball for us."
For his part, Orton has promised to support Tebow.
"I'm disappointed with everything," he said. "I wish I could have played better. I wish we had a better record. There's a lot of things, but reality is what it is."
More via the AP:
Orton, who's in the final year of his contract, is 6-21 since winning his first six games as Denver's starter. The Broncos tried to trade Orton, who's making $9 million this season, when the lockout ended, but talks with Miami broke down and Fox instead threw open the quarterback competition, something for which Tebow proved ill-prepared.After the bye, the Broncos head to Miami to face the Dolphins. It could be a homecoming for Tim Tebow, starting NFL quarterback, who made his name at the University of Florida.
Orton had worked extensively with teammates in workouts organized by safety Brian Dawkins during the lockout. So had Tebow, but he also spent time pitching products and his autobiography across the country. Orton's and Brady Quinn's offseason workout program paid off when training camp rolled around.
Stop...Tebow Time?
Orton maintained his stranglehold on the starting job and Quinn appeared to win the backup job despite a poor performance in the final preseason game, but Fox said this week that wasn't really the case: Tebow was his No. 2. This despite Tebow showing almost no progress in becoming the pocket passer that Broncos football chief John Elway has said he must become to make it in this league.
It could also be an opportunity for the Broncos to hand-deliver Orton to the Dolphins, a team desperately in need of a starter after losing Chad Henne for the season.
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