Darrelle Revis: Tim Tebow will help Jets

When word first surfaced the Jets seriously were bidding for Tim Tebow's services, Darrelle Revis had to do a double take.

"My first thought was what is going on?" the Jets' All-Pro cornerback said with a laugh on ESPN Radio's "Colin Cowherd Show" Wednesday. "You hear little trickles of, 'He might be a Jet.' Then, it's like, 'Naw, he's not.' So then when he becomes a Jet, it's surprising.

"But you've got to appreciate it. You've got to appreciate Mike Tannenbaum and Rex [Ryan] bringing Tebow to the team for a reason.

"I don't think this is a publicity stunt. I think it's for a reason: to help the team out."

Revis, who appeared on several ESPN platforms Wednesday promoting the Madden '13 cover vote competition, said he believes trading for Tebow was the right thing to do for the team. But Revis also expressed a little apprehension about Tebow taking snaps away from Mark Sanchez, something that could disrupt Sanchez's rhythm.

"Any sport, you don't want to take a guy out for 10, 15 plays," Revis said. "To me, you don't want to take a guy out because he can lose his momentum in the game. I look at that a little bit as maybe a concern because you are telling Mark to come in and say, 'Hey, now throw a touchdown pass.' And it's like, 'Well, I've been sitting out for so long.' It's something that could be a concern.

"We'll figure it out, though."

Overall, Revis seems convinced Tebow's arrival is going to have a positive effect on a team looking to rebound after finishing 8-8, particularly after seeing Tebow's magic up close. Before the Jets played the Broncos in Week 11, Revis was critical of Denver's unorthodox option-read style of offense, saying he didn't think it was good enough to win long-term if Tebow was the one at the helm.

However, Revis was proved wrong after Tebow engineered the game-winning 95-yard touchdown drive in Denver's 17-13 win, and he praised Tebow again Wednesday.

"I think he'll have a big impact," Revis said. "The things that he did last year with Denver, unbelievable season he had with them, taking them far into the playoffs and winning a bunch of games for them. He's a football player and a competitor and that's what people need to see in Tim Tebow."

But Tebow's arrival could also lead to a quarterback controversy. Revis, who didn't think there was enough team support behind Sanchez in 2011, acknowledged it might test a locker room that he admitted was in "disarray" at the end of the season.

"It was a circus," Revis said, "and it's going to be more of a circus with him in the locker room. I'm not questioning his ability to play the game. He can flat-out play the game. But it's just going to bring more to the locker room every day [of], 'Does Mark need to start? Does Tim need to start?' It's going to just be an ongoing thing throughout the season."

That's why Revis might address all his teammates when the players report for the beginning of organized team activities (OTAs) next month.

"I think that needs to be the first thing that our leaders on the team need to do," he said. "I have talked to Nick Mangold, and we need to make sure we get the team together to talk about this situation to get past it and move forward."