Agent says Greene never pushed for Tebow
Should Mark Sanchez or Tim Tebow start for the New York Jets?
Stop if you've this before.
Thursday's edition of the Jets quarterback controversy features a debate as to whether running back Shonn Greene suggested that the team switch the two. It also comes on the heels of head coach Rex Ryan blasting his players after an anonymous player referred to Tebow as "terrible."
Greene was quoted by Yahoo! Sports Mike Silver Wednesday as saying "something's got to change," remarks that was framed to suggest the quarterback position. Greens's agent, Sean Howard, defended his client to NBC's PrimeFootballTalk on Thursday.
"Nowhere did he say Tebow should be the starting quarterback," Howard said. "Knowing Shonn as I do, he has always defended his teammates. Shonn's not that guy. Because of the headline, everybody was quick to conclude that Shonn was advocating for change. That's just not the case."
The headline that ran on Yahoo! read: "Jets RB Shonn Greene is right: Time for team to hand ball to 'terrible' Tim Tebow," and Silver defended himself.
"I don't write the headlines," Silver said in an email to PFT, "but I stand by everything in the column, including the accuracy of the quote. In fairness to Shonn, he was reacting to an opinion I expressed (about giving Tebow a shot) but the quotes are accurate, and I was taking notes in front of him. I feel badly that we are in this situation. I believe he is a good, well-meaning teammate who is frustrated about the team's losing streak."
For the record, here's what Greene said. "Something's got to change. When you get to the point where you're 3-6, and losing and losing, a couple of guys are like, 'Oh, what would happen [if Tebow played]?' But guys at the same time have faith in Mark, so it's kind of an up-and-down thing.
"You feel bad for Mark, but at the same time you want to win games. We're not here to protect people's feelings. If you want to win games, you've got to try something. If somebody's not getting the job done, you see if somebody else can do it. It's the same with coaching, or any position. You don't mean to belittle someone or say 'he sucks.' That's just the harsh reality."
