National Football League

Belichick won't rule out Tebow return

Published Sep. 2, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Could the door be open for quarterback Tim Tebow to return to the New England Patriots?

Patriots coach Bill Belichick on Monday declined to rule out bringing back the popular but underperforming quarterback some time this season.

''I don't know what's going to happen here in the year, but certainly we've had a lot of players who've left here and come back here,'' Belichick told reporters in his first comments since releasing Tebow on Saturday, the day NFL teams cut their rosters. ''It's already happened this year.''

The Patriots have only two quarterbacks on the active roster. If starter Tom Brady or backup Ryan Mallett are injured, they would need another.

The decision to go with two quarterbacks, as the team has done in the past, was '''cause we thought it was the best thing for the team.''

''There's a million things that go into a personnel decision,'' Belichick said.

Tebow was released Saturday when NFL teams were required to cut their rosters to 53 players. The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner was 11 for 30 for 145 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in three exhibition games.