Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer laid out Tim Tebow’s strengths and weaknesses, and what the former Jets quarterback and Mets minor league outfielder needs to do to make Jacksonville’s roster as a tight end.
“He has good hands. In his drill work, he’s great, but when you get in a competitive moment, just [because of his] lack of experience he wants to body the ball,” Meyer said after practice Saturday in Jacksonville. “When you get to a point where two people are going after it, you have to go get the ball.
“He is fighting through that a little bit, but he has the skill set to catch the ball.”
Tebow, 33, was a star quarterback during four collegiate seasons under Meyer at Florida, winning the Heisman Trophy in 2007. The 6-foot-2 Tebow is likely competing for a roster spot with veteran tight end James O’Shaughnessy, behind the starting battle between Chris Manhertz and rookie Luke Farrell.
“[Competition is] alive and well and the reality of 90 players is that you’re going knock it down to 53. That’s reality,” Meyer added. “I had a chat with the team about that and I think I want to take the subjectivity out of it.
“It’s a little bit like when we had [quarterbacks] Joe Burrow and Dwayne Haskins [at Ohio State]. My gosh, [they were] two first-round draft picks. It’s not fair to a player to not have objectiveness in there and that means charting everything.”
Meyer, who won an NCAA title with the Buckeyes in 2014, is coaching in the NFL for the first time. He noted Saturday that “nothing’s competitive yet, but starting Monday, we are going to try to take the subjectivity out of who plays and who makes the team.”
