John McDaniels downplays Tim Tebow catching passes
By Mike Dyce
Ever since the New England Patriots picked up Tim Tebow, NFL fans have been trying to figure out role he’ll fill. Once Aaron Hernandez’s situation unfolded and with Rob Gronkowski potentially missing the beginning of the season, they could use someone to catch the football.
So when Tebow was seen catching footballs early in practice it raised eyebrows. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is downplaying it, however.
“Anybody that is a potential runner, that can actually do something with the ball in his hands – something good – we always put them [in the drill],” McDaniels said, Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com. “I think Matt Cassel and [Doug] Flutie and some of those other guys that I’ve had a chance to coach, I think we did the same types of things with them.”
“Again, certainly we know Tim has a skill set that some of these other guys don’t possess in terms of his ability to run with it, or scramble with it when he has it in his hands. He’s just practicing his open-field running [and] I know the defensive guys enjoy the challenge of trying to get him to the ground. I think it’s good for everybody and a normal procedure that we go through in training camp.”
The Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has declined to say whether Tebow would play any position other than quarterback.