NFL PLAYER NEWS

Kelly sees improvement in Tebow

The Sports Xchange

June 19, 2015 at 11:04 am.

Tebow will be battling for a roster spot with with Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez far ahead of him on the depth chart. Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly likes what he has seen so far with Tim Tebow’s progress.

Tebow will be battling for a roster spot with with Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez far ahead of him on the depth chart. Even Matt Barkley may be ahead of Tebow, who was signed by the Eagles in April after more than two years removed from his last NFL action.

“I have seen an improvement from Tim since the day we got him in terms of his knowledge of what we’re doing, understanding where everybody is,” Kelly said this week at the team’s minicamp. “There’s a whole process, and for him what we have done is different than what he’s done anywhere else. So in terms of learning our terminology and how we do things, I think each week you’ve seen an incremental bump in him, so we’re excited to see where that takes him and it’ll be a good competition as we get into August.”

Since last appearing in a game for the New York Jets in 2012, Tebow joined ESPN as an analyst for the SEC Network in 2014, where he primarily worked on “SEC Nation.”

Originally a first-round draft choice (25th overall) of the Denver Broncos in 2010, the 6-foot-3, 236-pound Tebow has appeared in 35 games with 16 starts.

“I think mechanically he’s improved, but I think he did a lot on his own,” Kelly said. “Usually when we’re out here, the first phase of phase two (of OTAs), we do a little bit of mechanic work, but then once we really get into it, we’re talking about coverages, spacing, where the ball is supposed to go and all those other things. We’re not spending a whole lot of time, and especially with the quarterback, talking about where your arm slot is and any of those things.”