INDIANAPOLIS -- You knew it would happen. Among the many Tim Tebow questions asked of Denver Broncos head coach John Fox at the scouting combine in Thursday, the subject of Brady Quinn's pejorative comments about Tebow in Mike Silver's recent GQ article came up. Fox was asked for his thoughts on the "controversy."
"Well, knowing their relationship, and knowing both Brady and Tim very well myself ... sometimes, things get lost in translation," Fox said. "I know that their relationship is very close, and they obviously have a lot of respect for each other. They're very good teammates to each other, and that's what I know. It's hard for me to speculate on the comments, but I know what I know."
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It's hard for anyone to speculate on the comments, but having talked with the author about the piece, and knowing that Mike went to the trouble to send the audio to Quinn when questioned about misrepresentation, I'm not sure what got "lost in translation." Still, that's probably the best and most political thing for Fox to say without knowing all the facts.
Fox was then asked if the comments hurt the chances for Quinn, a free agent, to come back to the organization. "I don't think so," he said. "I already know the relationship -- he's been a great teammate to Tom, and I know Tim knows that. And, the head coach knows that. We still like Brady Quinn."
Was Fox glad that Quinn apologized on Twitter? "Yeah, I think that shows you just who he is. And he's the guy I know. Sometimes, that just happens -- of course, it's never happened to me before [laughs].
Beyond that ancillary stuff. Fox was effusive in his praise of Tebow, and his impact on the team.
"At the end of the day, we're very comfortable with Tim," Fox said "He did turn us from a 4-12 team to a playoff team. Our goal was to be champions at the beginning of the season, but when we became division champs, we wanted to become conference champs and world champs. Really, [our goal at] every position on our football team right now will be to improve our team. Typically, we go to camp with four quarterbacks. If you do the math, we have two, so that means we need two more. That can come from a lot of varieties of areas. All we're trying to do is find the best human talent we can that we think fits what we believe to be a championship football team with the Denver Broncos."
Key to Tebow's success was the ability of Denver's coaching staff to play to Tebow's strengths and align the offensive game plan away from his weaknesses.
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"Well I think that was all a part of the offense," Fox said of the option looks and first-read relays set up by offensive coordinator Mike McCoy. "It was a part of the offense the year before under a different staff when Tim would come in. For a non-fan, more of a Wildcat-type of offense, except it was with a quarterback. We had that going along in camp this year as we progressed with Kyle Orton as the starter. Then, when Tim established himself as the starter, we just used a little bit more of it and grew it some. It was a great job by our offensive staff—coaching wise, and our players, Tim included—to adjust like that during an NFL season."
Fox was also asked about his thoughts on Tebow working out at the UCLA campus this offseason. "That's kind of a loaded question, because you could get me in a lot of trouble," he said slyly. "If the question is, 'Do I mind that he's working out,' the answer is, 'No.' We're excited about the fact that he's out there working out, and he'll be better for that. That's just the kind of young man he is."
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