Tim Tebow isn't heading to the Big Apple to be a backup. He wants to start.
At least that's what New York Jets tight end Dustin Keller told The Star-Ledger.
"He's not coming in just thinking, 'OK, I'm the backup quarterback,'Â " Keller said Monday at the NFL's new pop-up store in New York. "Every quarterback wants to go in -- or every position -- and wants to be a starter. He's definitely going to push Mark (Sanchez), so I think it's going to be friendly competition there."
Keller and Sanchez are good friends, and according to the tight end, the quarterback is handling the situation "very well."
"I spoke with him about it, not like, 'Is it bothering you?' or anything like that," Keller said. "But those guys are always going to make the moves that are in the best interests of the team, and he understands the whole thing that a lot of people have been saying: He needs a backup quarterback that is going to push him and everything, and this may be that. So hopefully it works out for the best."
When asked how he thinks Sanchez will handle Tebowmania and the possibility that fans will be calling for the backup to replace him, Keller said the quarterback wouldn't crack.
"I think he'll handle it very well," Keller said. "That's why they brought him in. He came from a school, USC, I would say is the highest or closest equivalent to being in the New York market. He's always been able to handle that pressure best when it comes (to) that time of year. Playoffs, whenever the pressure is on, that's when Mark plays his best football, so I think in this scenario, he'll handle this just as well."
Keller added that he wasn't worried about a Sanchez-versus-Tebow debate splitting the locker room.
"We all know that decision is not ours, and the guys upstairs are going to choose whatever is best for us," Keller said. "We just have to let it play out however it plays out."
