National Football League

Reports: Jets to part ways with Tebow

Published Dec. 20, 2012 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

What a week it's been for Tim Tebow.

Days after the New York Jets announced that they will start third-string quarterback Greg McElroy on Sunday against the San Diego Chargers, multiple reports indicate that the team will part ways with Tebow.

The Jets, who are also reportedly looking to trade Mark Sanchez despite guaranteeing him $8.25 million next season, acquired Tebow last summer in a trade with the Denver Broncos and hoped to use the former Heisman Trophy winner in their wildcat-style offense.

But it never worked out with Tebow, who failed to beat out Sanchez for the starting QB job and was used seldomly all season.

"Obviously, I'm a little disappointed," Tebow said about the Jets' decision to start McElroy.

Tebow paused for a second when asked if he felt passed over by Jets coach Rex Ryan choosing McElroy instead of him.

''All you can ask for and all you want is a chance,'' he said. ''A chance to go out there and play the game you love, and help this team win football games. That's all I wanted.''

Ryan acknowledged Wednesday that he had higher expectations for Tebow in the wildcat.

''For some reason, it hasn't panned out to my expectations and maybe Tim's, either,'' Ryan said. ''Defenses have attacked us a little differently. Maybe that's a contributing factor to it.''

Ryan would not go into detail about why he chose Greg McElroy over Tebow to replace the struggling Mark Sanchez as the team's starting quarterback with two games left in a lost season. He reiterated his comments from Tuesday that it was his decision — and his alone — saying it was a ''gut'' call.

''I think we had a vision of using Tim in different ways,'' Ryan said. ''Obviously, we used him as a personal punt protector. I thought maybe we would use him in other ways or something.''

Tebow has completed six of eight passes for 39 yards this season while rushing for 102 yards and no touchdowns.

When asked if he envisions returning to the Jets in 2013, Tebow reportedly said: "I'm not sure. It's something we'll talk about after the season."

The Jets may not be the only one saying goodbye to Tebow, who broke up with actress Camilla Belle this week after "it just didn't work out," according to US Weekly.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.