Rex Ryan

With Tim Tebow signing in New England, Jets coach Rex Ryan knew what to expect when he met the media for a Tuesday morning press conference in advance of the team’s minicamp.

“I have a funny feeling there’s going to be more questions about former players than there are current players,” Ryan said, via the New York Daily News.

Tebow struggled to get on the field last year in New York after the Jets acquired him from the Broncos, but Ryan had nothing negative to say about him.

“It’s not a surprise to me that Tim would be picked up,” Ryan said. “Obviously, as I’ve said before, [he's] a tremendous young man. Very competitive. I’m happy for him and look forward to competing against him.”

Added Ryan: “I’m happy for the young man to get another opportunity in the league. … It’s didn’t work out here. Obviously Tim had more success in Denver than he did here. So, it is what it is.”

Ryan said he’s “not worried” about how it would be perceived if Tebow contributed to the Patriots’ success following his brief stint in New York, nor did he have any desire to speculate how Bill Belichick might use him.

“Not really,” Ryan said. “If they want to replace [Tom] Brady with him, that’s fine.”

A large media contingent talks to Brandon Spikes while waiting on Tim Tebow. (Mike Petraglia/WEEI.com)

FOXBORO — With about 80 reporters from around New England and the country assembled, and 15 cameras waiting on his every word, Tim Tebow made only a statement after he came off the field Tuesday afternoon, following the first of three mini-camp workouts outside Gillette Stadium.

“First and foremost, I just want to thank the Patriots for giving me an opportunity,” Tebow began. “I’m very thankful. It’s such an honor to be a Patriot and play for coach [Bill] Belichick and coach [Josh] McDaniels, and learn under Tom [Brady] and be a part of this great franchise and very successful franchise. I found out first hand; lost to them several times.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to working hard every single day and getting a lot better
and learning under some great people.

As reporters attempted to ask questions, Tebow was escorted off the field by media relations staff. The team estimated that the media crush was about double what a normal June mini-camp would bring.

“That’s all I got. Thank you all so much and God bless. I’m sure we’ll be talking more soon.”

Bill Belichick answers Tim Tebow questions Tuesday at Gillette Stadium. (Mike Petraglia/WEEI.com)

FOXBORO — The response from Bill Belichick on Tim Tebow was predictable.

After giving a 45-second opening remark on the start of June minicamp outside Gillette Stadium, the Patriots coach was peppered with about three minutes of constant questions on the team’s signing of Tebow.

“Anything we do is what we feel is in the best interest of the team,” Belichick said. “Tim is a talented player that is smart and works hard so we’ll see how it goes.”

Then a political reporter from New Hampshire, among the local and national media throng that totaled over 50, asked how much was the attention a consideration in signing Tebow to a two-year deal.

“None. Try to do what is best for the team.”

What does Belichick think of the obvious fanfare and media attention that will follow the Patriots?

“In all honesty, we’ve been in front of bigger crowds than this before,” he said. “We’ll just keep doing what our job is. We’re going to try to get better as a football team, individually and collectively and that’s what we’re going to do.”

What position will Tebow be used?

“We’re going to do what we think is best for our football team,” Belichick said. “I don’t know. We’ll see. He’s a talented guy. He’s smart, works hard. We’ve all see him play. He can do a lot of things. We’ve seen that.”

Belichick said Tebow’s signing has no roster implications.

“I like Tim,” Belichick said. “I have a lot of respect for Tim. Never coached him before. Certainly a lot closer to the players I’ve coached before.

“Look, we have a team-full of players. Everybody has a job to do. I’m sure he’ll try to do it the best he can. We’ll try to do it the best we can.”

Then another question about distractions.

“Distractions?” Belichick said. “”Hopefully, there’ll be more than that at games on Sunday.”

What about Tebowing?

“We’ve already talked enough about him,” he said. “I think I’ve covered it.”

Asked if Josh McDaniels, who drafted Tebow with the Broncos in 2010, had any input, Belichick said “I don’t know. Everyone in the organization has input.”

Tim Tebow. (AP)

FOXBORO — It’s official. Tim Tebow is a Patriot.

The Patriots announced Tuesday morning, hours before the opening of their mandatory mini-camp, that they have signed free agent quarterback Tim Tebow. Terms of the contract were not announced, though ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports it’s a two-year non-guaranteed deal. Tebow is expected to be in camp and fully participate.

Tebow, 25, is a veteran of three NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos (2010-11) and the New York Jets (2012). The 6-foot-3, 236-pounder, originally entered the NFL as a first-round draft pick (25th overall) by Denver in 2010 out of Florida. After two seasons with the Broncos, he was traded by Denver to the Jets on March 21, 2012, in exchange for a fourth and sixth-round draft selections in the 2012 NFL Draft. Tebow was released by the Jets on April 29, 2013.

Tebow has played in 35 NFL games with 16 starts and has 173 completions on 361 pass attempts for 2,422 yards with 17 touchdowns. He has also rushed for 989 yards on 197 attempts with 12 touchdowns. Last season with the Jets, he played in 12 games with two starts and completed 6-of-8 pass attempts for 39 yards and had 32 rushing attempts for 102 yards.

His best statistical season was in 2011 when he led Denver to the postseason after starting in 11 of 14 games and completing 126-of-271 pass attempts for 1,729 yards with 12 touchdowns and adding 660 rushing yards on 122 attempts with six touchdowns. Tebow started in both postseason games, completing 19-of-47 pass attempts for 452 yards and two touchdowns.

At Florida, Tebow was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy for three years, winning the award in 2007 as a sophomore.

Pete Prisco

CBS Sports NFL columnist Pete Prisco, who wrote a piece Monday opining that the Tim Tebow signing is an example of the Patriots’ arrogance under Bill Belichick, joined Dennis & Callahan on Tuesday morning to discuss the situation.

Prisco predicted it would be a “circus” atmosphere at training camp for a couple of weeks and then the Patriots will cut Tebow in mid-August, because, “He can’t play.” Prisco is convinced the Patriots will want to rid themselves of a distraction that does not offer enough positives.

“The Patriots are very good at controlling things, we know that, that’s a given,” Prisco said. “But as far as this, there’s no controlling this. This is a rolling ball of cult-like thunder that can’t be stopped. Tebow will be a distraction no matter what they say or what they try do.”

Added Prisco: “I just think it’s not worth the aggravation. Where’s the value in bringing him in? Somebody explain that to me.”

An ESPN report indicates the Patriots agreed to keep Tebow at quarterback. Prisco said he doesn’t believe that could be true.

“If he’s kept at quarterback, he has no chance to make the team,” Prisco said. “He stinks.”

Prisco has questioned Tebow’s intelligence, basing it on discussions he has had with a number of people in the league and former teammates of Tebow.

“I think there’s some learning problems there,” Prisco said. “And so do some other people in the organization. He just can’t process the information. You give him a play on the sideline and he can’t process the information. He has the wristband — and I know a lot of quarterbacks wear wristbands — but he HAD to wear the wristband because he couldn’t get the plays and remember them. By the time he got the plays and got to the line of scrimmage he was already looking back down at the wristband again because he couldn’t remember what the play was.

“He’s just not very good at deciphering information. And by the time it starts happening so fast in front of him, he loses focus, he loses perspective, he has no idea where to go with the football; that’s why he panics and made bad throws. He’s not very good at reading defenses because he doesn’t learn it very well. So, I think there’s a problem with that.”

Added Prisco: “He’s not smart. He’s not a smart football player.”

Prisco also questioned whether Tebow is as well-liked in the locker room as many would believe.

“There’s this big myth about him being a great teammate,” Prisco said. “He’s not a great teammate.”

To hear the interview, go to the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page. For more Patriots news, visit the team page at weei.com/patriots.

Willie McGinest

Monday on the NFL Network, former Patriots turned analysts Willie McGinest and Heath Evans checked in with their thoughts on New England’s addition of Tim Tebow.

McGinest on the Patriots reportedly signing Tebow: “Well that dispels the rumor that Bill [Belichick] hates Tebow, right? Tim Tebow is a commodity when it comes to messing things up for defensive coordinators, making it hard for them to game-plan for him when they don’t know his involvement in the packages or the game plan. Belichick as we all know, is a smart guy. If he could add a weapon to his offense, whether he’s going to play him or not play him, and defenses have to spend time in practices and film sessions to prepare for what they may or may not see, this takes away from the overall preparation when it comes to preparing for an offense that is already very difficult to stop. With [Rob] Gronkowski being out, Tebow can play a lot of different positions on that offense and tight end is one of them as well.”

On if the Patriots would really put Tebow at tight end: “Bill will put Tebow at any position that is going to give him the best chances to win, one; two, create the mismatches; and three to get the defensive coordinators to lose sleep over that. Whether he’s a quarterback, whether he’s going to run some type of wildcat system, whether he’ll be at tight end, special teams — wherever the case may be. One thing about Tebow is he’s going to give you 110 percent regardless of where you play him. He’s going to be a good locker room guy. Yes, we talk about the attention of Tebow — that’s one of the places we name that pretty much controls the media. You don’t see a lot of things coming out of New England when it comes to media. They have all of that stuff under control and there is really no insecurity by Tom Brady at quarterback. They know who their starting quarterback is so there is not going to be a quarterback controversy. You had to go somewhere where you had a quarterback in place that was confident that you knew who the guy was.”

On how he believes Brady is taking the news: “I don’t think Brady’s worried about it at all. He’s confident; he’s a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame once he decides to retire. … Brady is one of the most polished guys when it comes to asking questions, whether it’s his own situation or a team situation when it comes to the media. This is something that he’s been through before at a young age in 2001. This is something now he’s a veteran, he’s polished. I don’t think this is going to bother him. They understand what they need to do. Everything that they talk about personnel-wise, they’ll keep in-house and they’ll feed the media what they want them to know and they’ll keep them out of everything. It’s going to attract attention of course; everywhere Tebow has been has attracted attention but if there is one place where this team could still block all of that out and concentrate on winning games, it’s New England.”

On if the Patriots are a better team with Tebow: “I don’t know how they’re going to play Tebow — nobody really knows. But if he can come in and he can be productive in the packages they’re going to use him in, in a great system like that, I mean, he’s a good football player. We never said he wasn’t a great football player; he’s just not a great quarterback. There is always room for really good football players on a good team in a good system.”

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Tim Tebow is now reunited with the coach that drafted him in 2010 with the Broncos. (AP)

FOXBORO — It appears when the Patriots open mandatory minicamp Tuesday outside Gillette Stadium, they will have an added attraction.

Tim Tebow has been signed by the team, first reported by ESPN’s Ed Werder. Tebow was drafted in 2010 by then-Broncos coach Josh McDaniels. Tebow led the Broncos to an 8-8 finish in 2011, including a playoff win over the Steelers.

Tebow was beaten the next week, 45-10, in the AFC divisional round by the Patriots at Gillette Stadium as McDaniels returned to the Patriots coaching staff at the same time.

After the Broncos signed Peyton Manning before last season, Tebow was traded to the Jets and suffered through a miserable season, one in which the Jets stuck with Mark Sanchez and limited Tebow’s playing time. Tebow was released on April 29 after the Jets drafted Geno Smith.

Tebow is now reunited with the coach that drafted him in 2010 and figures to give McDaniels and Bill Belichick more versatility to run an option-spread offense.

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