National Football League

McDaniels: Don't expect Tebow to sub

Published Sep. 13, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

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Broncos fans wishing to see more of Tim Tebow might get more of the same instead.

Denver coach Josh McDaniels said Monday that he's not planning to use his raw rookie quarterback much differently than he did in his NFL debut Sunday, when the former Florida star was on the field for just three snaps in a 24-17 loss at Jacksonville.

The college football icon, who grew up in Jacksonville, entered on the third play and gained a yard on a quarterback keeper on first-and-10, something he'd do again in the second quarter after lining up once at wide receiver.

Even when Tebow did go in, starting quarterback Kyle Orton stayed on the field and relayed the plays given to him through his headset, and McDaniels said he'd like to keep it that way.

Even though Orton said his rhythm wasn't affected by sharing a couple of snaps here and there, McDaniels downplayed the notion of a straight substitution of his starting quarterback and his first-round draft pick.

''I don't think I have any desire to do that with Kyle coming off the field, coming on the field, coming off,'' McDaniels said. ''I don't think that's really something that we're looking to do much of. Like I said yesterday after the game, I think our quarterback played pretty well. I think he will play well. (I have) great confidence in his ability to execute what we're doing.''

The prevailing wisdom heading into this season was that McDaniels, who stunned the league by selecting Tebow with the 25th overall pick in the draft six months ago, would capitalize on the three-time All-American's pass-run option talents by using him in third-and-short or red-zone situations.

That didn't happen in the opener.

The Broncos feel so good about Orton's progress in his second year in this system - and maybe equally cautious about Tebow's long road ahead - that they rewarded Orton with a contract extension through 2011 last month.

Orton was masterful Sunday until the fourth quarter, when he threw a fourth-down pass that Brandon Lloyd couldn't quite come down with in the end zone and then got picked off on his final drive in the closing seconds.

McDaniels said he would have used Tebow more had his carries been more productive.

''It was just a portion of the game plan that we wanted to go ahead and put in there. If it gave us some benefits, great. We threw a pass or two out of it, completed them. A couple of runs, didn't do much with those,'' McDaniels said. ''And again, going into the game we didn't have it as a significant portion of what we were going to do, we'd just see how it affected them and if it gave us some positive plays, we stay in it longer and if it didn't, we didn't.''

The Jaguars weren't fooled at all, and both times that Tebow got the snap, he didn't run over linebackers like he did in college, but got hammered at the line of scrimmage.

Defensive end Aaron Kampman said the Jaguars were ''very prepared'' for Tebow's snaps.

His first run was stuffed by defensive tackle Tyson Alualu, the Jaguars' first-round draft pick and the target of some ire among Jacksonville fans who thought taking their hometown hero would have been a wiser choice for a franchise that struggles to sell out games.

McDaniels is taking some heat for inserting Tebow into the drives he did. Both times Tebow took the snap after the Broncos had just made big plays, but both drives later stalled.

Orton said Tebow's presence didn't affect his rhythm, however, suggesting he could sit in the stands for a play, come back and keep right on rolling.

And after Tebow's first run, Orton completed a 13-yard pass. After his second, a 6-yarder.

Notably, Orton's five pass plays of 25 yards or more were the most of any quarterback who played Sunday. They included passes that went 36, 27 and 27 yards in the air - in stark contrast to last season when two bum ankles altered his mechanics and prevented him from properly stepping into his throws, preventing McDaniels from calling many deep passes.

McDaniels said it's not just a matter of health but habit, with Orton having worked more with speedsters Lloyd, Eddie Royal and Jabar Gaffney this spring and summer.

The Broncos, however, no longer have Pro Bowl receiver Brandon Marshall to create matchup problems once they get inside the 20, and Demaryius Thomas, their top draft pick who packs 229 pounds on his 6-foot-3 frame, was inactive Sunday after missing most of camp with a foot injury.

Thomas told The Associated Press on Monday that he's still dealing with pain and feels like he's still at least a couple of weeks away from being able to return to the field.

Orton was 1 for 4 in the red zone with an 8-yard TD toss to Gaffney, all with Tebow watching attentively from the sideline.

As for his first taste of the NFL, Tebow was pleased if hardly satisfied.

''To go out there and run on the field a few times and get a few plays was fun,'' he said. ''It was a learning opportunity for me, an opportunity to get better.''

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