Ex-Jets assistant calls Tebow situation a mess

Published Jan. 11, 2013 12:09 p.m. ET

foxsports

Add recently retired special teams coach Mike Westhoff to the list of people chiming in on the New York Jets' troubled season and their use of Tim Tebow.

Speaking on Miami radio station 560 WQAM on Friday, Westhoff, who spent 15 years as a special teams coach with the Dolphins before serving on the Jets staff the past 12 seasons, called the situation "an absolute mess."

“It was a distraction and really a shame," Westhoff told show host Joe Rose, "because that’s a hard-working young man.”

Tebow was traded from Denver to New York amid much fanfare last offseason. Expectations were that, even if the Jets didn't make him their starter, they'd unleash him in the wildcat formation.

But it never materialized.

Tebow saw limited action in 12 games, completing 6 of 8 passes for 39 yards and rushing for 102 yards. He failed to score a touchdown.

“Tim Tebow, as an NFL quarterback, he’s very limited in some things, and if you throw him right in the middle of a drop-back passing offense, he will look very, very average at best,” Westhoff said. “But if you incorporate him in different facets of your offense, I think he can be a factor. That’s what I felt we were going to do, but we never did it.”

“To be honest, I don’t think anybody’s really answered that question — why didn’t we do it? I honestly don’t know. I know we didn’t practice it, we didn’t practice it in training camp. We were going to unveil it — well, I’m still waiting for the unveiling.”

Speculation is that the Jets will release Tebow, but where he ends up is anybody's guess. The Jaguars seemingly took themselves out of consideration with newly hired general manager Dave Caldwell saying, "I can't imagine a scenario where he would be a Jacksonville Jaguar."