ESPN's Jon Gruden: 'Lombardi Split the QB Reps, so Why Not Sanchez and Tebow?'

Everyone wants to know how Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow will work together. The phone lines on sports talk radio in New York have been full of conversation about what will go on with the two Jets quarterbacks.

At this point, no one really knows what will play out with the Jets. Will Sanchez be the starter and Tebow stand on the sidelines holding a clipboard? Will the Jets run the “Wildcat offense,” as has been speculated? Will Tebow be the last man standing when the season finally begins?

At this point, maybe the voice of an expert could be of help. Yesterday, during an ESPN conference call with Monday Night Football, analyst and former NFL head coach Jon Gruden offered a very interesting observation on the Jets situation.

Question: I'm curious to know how you thought the Mark Sanchez/Tim Tebow dynamic was going to play out in New York, and also, as a coach, could you ever envision taking your starter off the field 20 snaps a game so the backup can do the wildcat? 

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Gruden: I remember years ago, Paul Hornung took snaps from center with the Green Bay Packers.  A guy named Vince Lombardi was coaching at that time.  Didn't do too bad, either.  The object of this game is not to compile great passer ratings and yardage and lead the league in yards; the object is to win.  And fortunately for the Jets, they have two winning quarterbacks. 

And if we all could agree on one thing, let's all try to agree that Tim Tebow can do some things to supplement what Mark Sanchez does to help you win; whether it's two snaps, 12 snaps or no snaps, Tebow is going to help the Jets on and off the field, and he is going to make it miserable for defenses to prepare, because if you think you're going to prepare for Sanchez and this Jet offense and Tim Tebow, you'd better work some endless hours and call the commissioner and see if you can add some hours to practice because it's going to be miserable on defense. 

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So that is an interesting observation from Coach Gruden, and it will be interesting to see how things plays out.

All quotes were from an ESPN conference call held by the network.