The New York Jets' Antonio Cromartie showed off backpedaling skills on Friday that should be the envy of his fellow NFL cornerbacks.
Just days after using Twitter to argue against the Jets' then-rumored interest in trading for Tim Tebow after signing starter Mark Sanchez to a three-year extension, Cromartie was singing a different tune in comments to the New York Daily News.
"He's going to bring another element to the Jets," Cromartie said. "He's a winner. He's a guy that never quits. If you give him a chance to win a game, he's going to go out and win it. I think that's what (general manager) Mike Tannenbaum and Rex (Ryan) saw in him."
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That's a far cry from Cromartie's tweet on Tuesday: "We don't need Tebow. We sell out every home game let him go to Jacksonville Tampa or Miami. Our wildcat offense can b ran by J. Kerley or Joe McKnight we straight."
Or this follow-up on Wednesday: "Y bring Tebow in when we need to bring in more Weapons for @Mark_Sanchez let's build the team around him."
"I don't have any regrets," Cromartie said Friday about his tweets. "I think a lot of people took what I said the wrong way. People took it as me dissing Tebow. I never dissed Tebow. I just said we don't need him on our team because Mark is our quarterback. I would never degrade an NFL player because he's in the NFL for a reason. Tebow's proven over the past couple years why he's in the NFL."
Cromartie continued to express support for Sanchez.
"Fans are going to root for who they want to root for," he said. "... Our job is to make sure that whatever goes on in that locker room or meeting rooms is kept in-house. We are going to back our quarterback no matter what goes on. Mark is our No. 1 quarterback. He's our starting quarterback. He's our guy. Tebow's coming in as the No. 2 guy that can push Mark to his full potential. And that's what we're looking for. He's a guy that can bring a spark in different packages. It's a win-win situation for us."
