ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — It’s officially Tebow Time in Denver.
Coach John Fox said Tuesday he’ll start Tim Tebow against the Miami Dolphins when the Broncos return from their bye week.
“Well, I think 1-4 has a lot to do with it,” Fox said. “We haven’t gotten it done as a football team. It’s not one guy. It’s not all Kyle Orton’s fault. But we do have to make adjustments, we have to change and we have to do something to win football games.”
Tebow said he was “honored to get this opportunity. I’m very excited. … I just know that every day I’m going to come out here and practice every day I can.”
Orton said he was disappointed but vowed to support Tebow and the rest of his teammates.
“I’m disappointed with everything,” Orton said. “I wish I could have played better. I wish we had a better record. There’s a lot of things, but reality is what it is.”
The timing of the move is unique, considering the team Tebow will make his 2011 starting debut against. The Dolphins, who lost Chad Henne for the season with a shoulder injury, had been trying to trade for benched starter Kyle Orton before the start of training camp.
The trade deadline is Oct. 18, but it would seem unlikely the Broncos would trade Orton to Miami and have him potentially start against Tebow.
The game at Sun Life Stadium will be a homecoming of sorts for Tebow. The Dolphins plan to honor the 2009 University of Florida national championship team at halftime.
Replacing Orton at halftime Sunday, Tebow nearly led the Broncos back from a late 16-point deficit, falling a desperation pass short in a 29-24 loss to San Diego.
Tebow had his troubles — rust, three fumbled snaps and six misfires in 10 pass attempts — but he ran for a touchdown and threw for another while energizing the Broncos and fans frustrated by a franchise mired in mediocrity since its last winning season in 2005.
Orton continued a puzzling slide Sunday when he went 6 for 13 for 34 yards against the Chargers and threw his seventh interception, tied with Michael Vick and Philip Rivers for most in the league.
He also has two fumbles, including a costly one against Oakland in the opener when he lost the ball without being hit while winding up to throw to a wide-open tight end for the go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter of a 23-20 loss.
Orton, who is making $9 million in the final year of his contract, is 6-21 since winning his first six games as Denver’s starter.
Orton had worked extensively with teammates in workouts organized by safety Brian Dawkins during the lockout. So had Tebow, but he also spent time pitching products and his autobiography across the country.
Orton’s and Brady Quinn’s offseason workout program paid off when training camp rolled around.
Orton maintained his stranglehold on the starting job and Quinn appeared to win the backup job despite a poor performance in the final preseason game.
But Fox said this week that wasn’t really the case: Tebow was his No. 2, despite showing almost no progress in becoming the pocket passer that Broncos chief John Elway has said he must become to make it in the league.
His footwork was still flawed, his throws were still off-target, and he even had trouble with the most basic of football plays: the center-quarterback exchange, after spending most of his football career playing out of the shotgun.
He showed, however, that there was some validity to the notion he’s a “gamer,” posting decent stats in preseason games, but he clearly was outplayed by Orton.
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Colin Cowherd says Tim Tebow sells hope to Broncos fans, but he’ll never be an NFL-caliber QB. He says coach John Fox is now in an uncomfortable position and Denver will have to stick with him for at least a year and a half.
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So, it was Orton’s job to lose — and he did.
via Tim Tebow replaces Kyle Orton as Denver Broncos’ starting quarterback, John Fox says – ESPN.
