Jets: OC Tony Sparano on Tim Tebow and the state of the offense

Offensive coordinator Tony Sparano played it close to the vest when asked questions about when he might ultimately unveil QB Tim Tebow and the Jet's Wildcat.

By Lisa Zimmerman

Aug 8, 2012 at 4:37 pm ET • 3 min read

Offensive coordinator Tony Sparano played it close to the vest when asked questions about when he might ultimately unveil QB Tim Tebow and the Wildcat. The Jets play at Cincinnati on Friday night and it will be Tebow's first live action in a green jersey. "We'll see. There's always a chance," he said.

He did say that he has seen a lot of improvment in Tebow. "You're not going to see them necessarily," he said, "But I see them quite a bit, in his identification of fronts, his identifcation of coverages. Going through progressions. I think the ball every day is coming off his
hands a lot better."

QB Mark Sanchez and the starters are expected to play only about a quarter with Tebow and the backup unit working for about a half.

Sparano is still installing his new system and while he feels like progress has been made, it is not close to complete. He pointed out that some of that is due to the new NFL rules.

"Today was, I believe, practice No. 10. In the old days it would be about practice No. 18. We've got an awful lot done, we've got a long way to go."

Sparano pointed out that with the new CBA, not only are the number of training camp practices reduced, but the there are only a total of 14 padded practices allowed during the regular season. One of the issues the team has had to deal with in the first two weeks is that their starting offensive line has not had a lot of work together. RG Brandon Moore missed two days going to Canton to see Curtis Martin inducted in the Hall of Fame. C Nick Mangold missed several days while he went to London to see his sister compete in the Olympics. RT Wayne Hunter has now been sidelined with a lower back problem.

"Trust me, nobody's getting better with 14 padded practices for the season. The work you do now has to carry over later so we need to get them together, playing together more frequently and I'm looking foward to that this weekend for a few plays," Sparano said.

There have also been issues with the wide receivers. Santonio Holmes and Jeremy Kerley are both injured and have been ruled out for Friday. Chaz Schilens has been bothered by a hamstring as have some of the other third and fourth string players. Sparano noted that this has allowed some of the younger guys to get more time, but that it can bea double-edged sword as overworking them can be a problem.

"They're out there and they're taking a ton of plays, but they're out there and they're taking a ton of plays," he said.

As for the offense in general, Sparano is pleased with where they are. "The guys arw competing at a really high level right now. There's been some realy good give and take. I see us getting better every day at something out there and that's a compliment to our players.

Sparano also credited the defense, which has already been in their system for three years and is ahead of the offense in that respect, with helping the offense improve at a quicker rate.

"One of the things I thought was really important is they did not hold back their install at all." Sparano said citing the fact that it forced the offense to catch up.

Sparano also noted that the Jets defense is, by all accounts, one of the toughest to face, giving the Jets offense and even better edge with other opponents. "If we can block this group out here, I think the game will slow down for us."

Sparano also noted that the Jets defense is, by all accounts, one of the toughest to face, giving the Jets offense and even better edge with other opponents. "If we can block this group out here, I think the game will slow down for us."