The Curious Case of Tim Tebow

December 9, 2012; Jacksonville, FL, USA; New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow (15) warms up before the game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the New York Jets at EverBank Field. The Jets defeated the Jaguars 17-10. Mandatory Credit: Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports

Before I start, relax Tim Tebow fans. This is not another one of my chances to rant about Tim. You all know how I feel about Tim by now, so I am not going to continue kicking. What I am looking at today is the curious situation that has been his situation all year long. Rex’s comments this week just punctuated the situation, but it has been strange all year long, hasn’t it? One thing has been made abundantly clear:

The Jets should have never made this trade. Why? The coaching staff has no interest in having him on the team.

It started early, when the Jets wouldn’t reveal much about how he was going to be used. The “Wildcat” package was a big secret, so much so that they wouldn’t even practice it in front of the media. There was rampant speculation about what the Jets were going to do. Would it be Mark and Tim? What would the plays look like? The season began, and yes, Tim was used, but very sparingly, and the plays were very vanilla. We all got used to watching Tim come in for basically a quarterback draw that led to 1-3 yards.

What they DIDN’T do was use Tim in proven situations. They didn’t use him in short yardage, and they didn’t use him much in the red zone. The usage of Tim, other than personal punt protector (which he did well), was scattered and lacked creativity. There were countless opportunities where the Jets SHOULD have used Tebow, but they DIDN’T. The only reason for this, is that the trade should never have been made. The coaches don’t want him. Whether they are right about that or not is irrelevant, if he doesn’t fit into the coaches plan, let him go somewhere where he does.

Then we come to this week. Tim Tebow is coming off this broken rib injury. On Wednesday he practiced in full. But, Rex told us that he won’t be the personal punt protector, and he likely wont run any Wildcat plays. He will, however, be active as the number two quarterback. So, wait a minute. He is healthy enough to be a regular backup quarterback, but not healthy enough to run the plays he is good at? He’s either healthy, or he’s not, right? It makes no sense, unless the coach really has no use for the player. Whether that is correct or incorrect, the fact is that is how the coaches feel.

The trade should never have been made, because he doesn’t fit into the plans of the coaching staff. No matter what the GM feels, or what the owner feels about getting attention, they have to defer to the coaching staff. If the coaches legitimately have no use for a player, whether that feeling is warranted or not, you are wasting a roster spot by putting him on the team. It’s not fair to the rest of the roster to waste a roster spot, and it’s not fair to Tim Tebow to bring him in if you are not going to use him. Let him go somewhere that he will get a chance to play.

The trade should never have been made for Tim Tebow. The coaches don’t want him here, hopefully for Tim’s sake, he will get a chance to play somewhere else.