Asked about the addition of Tim Tebow to an already personality-heavy New York Jets team, Dustin Keller summed it up appropriately:
"For one, he brings more media into the locker room -- as if that's possible," Keller told the New York Post on Thursday. The tight end called it "an honor" to answer repeated questions about perhaps the most panted-over backup quarterback of all time.
Keller laughed as he spoke, and he's wise to keep his sense of humor. Thursday was a mere sample of what's ahead. Sixty-plus minutes of player access inside the Jets' facility brought a horde of media types. It was no mystery what pulled them in.
Timothy Richard Tebow stirs the masses, and that won't change, but Keller told The Star-Ledger that starting quarterback Mark Sanchez remains the unquestioned leader of this team.
When Sanchez spoke, he described his backup "as advertised," and admitted: "I'm not sick of the (Tebow) questions, but it's only May."
At last, Tebow finally waltzed in, asked right away how it feels to be a backup after guiding the Denver Broncos to the playoffs last season.
"It doesn't change my mind-set," Tebow said. He confirmed that he's spent every play in practice at quarterback, but remains open to everything from a role in the Wildcat to operating as punt protector: "Whatever they want me to do, I'll do it with all my heart."
Quintessential Timmy.
Here's what else we learned:
• Bart Hubbuch of the Post categorized receiver Santonio Holmes as "very testy, very tense with the media today." Holmes was asked about the potential for a quarterback controversy between Sanchez and Tebow. After ending last season as one of the more notorious figures in a fractured Jets locker room, Holmes wouldn't take the bait: "No. No. I don't," he said.
• Interesting comments about the transition from Brian Schottenheimer to new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano: Right tackle Wayne Hunter said Sparano is "night and day" from Schottenheimer, who ran an offense Holmes described as "a little difficult" to follow.
• Hunter is determined to shore up his performance at right tackle and called himself the starter. "I was the weakest link last year. Last year I played like a rookie. This year I'll play like nine-year veteran," he said.
• Another nugget from Hunter: He's mended fences with Holmes after the two were seen in a shouting match in the team's final game of the season, a disturbing loss to the Dolphins.
• One more Tebow item: His dog -- formerly known as "Bronco" -- has been renamed "Bronx" since the trade.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the state of your New York Jets.
