Injured Tebow still learning self-protection code of NFL

<p>DENVER — The taming of Tim Tebow has begun.</p><p>For a second consecutive day, the rookie Denver Broncos quarterback was locked inside the trainer's room while the team finished training camp on Thursday.</p><p>All quarterbacks eventually learn that bone-jarring contact is detrimental to their present and long-term health. Breaking Tebow of his well-known physical style of play may be a great challenge.</p><p>On the final play of the Broncos' preseason loss Sunday at Cincinnati, Tebow hurdled into the end zone while being hit by two tacklers.</p><p>The play highlighted how the 245-pound quarterback is willing to put himself in harm's way.</p><p>“You've got to choose between smart decision and toughness,” said Broncos' cornerback André Goodman. “But when it's in you, it's in you. It's hard to run it off. I would imagine it's going to be tougher for him to learn that than most quarterbacks.</p><p>“I was watching him pace the sidelines for the first half. You should have seen the look he had. He couldn't wait to get in the game.” </p><p>Tebow's first professional touchdown left him with bruised left ribs, courtesy of an unintentional, but full-force helmet blast from Cincinnati Bengals' linebacker Abdul Hodge. Tebow was hit was almost simultaneously on the right side by safety Kyries Hebert.</p><p>The former Florida Gator star scored a touchdown but got up slowly, as did Hebert.</p><p>“Had he not tried to get it in on the last play of the game, I'm sure that would have been a bigger story,” Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said. “Now, if it's the first quarter and you get a first down on a scramble, yeah, you try to preserve your body. I think that's the smartest thing to do. He hasn't been in that situation yet, so to judge him on what happened the other night in terms of being reckless, I would say is very unfair.” </p><p>McDaniels' policy is to not make any injured player available to the media, so Tebow was not available for comment.</p><p>But Tebow has already been confronted with questions about his preference for contact. In October 2007, a story in the Palm Beach Post was headlined: “Hits on Tebow Worry Players.” </p><p>A few days earlier, Tebow suffered a right shoulder injury during a 45-37 victory against Kentucky.</p><p>“We'll be like, ‘Coach, you might need to chill out with Tebow,'” Florida receiver Percy Harvin said at the time. “They'll look at us and say, ‘Yeah, we're going to start (giving more carries to the running backs), but in the heat of the moment, when we need those three yards, we've got to go to him.” '</p><p>Said Tebow then: “You have to be responsible for your teammates by staying healthy and not taking too many hits.” </p><p>So Tebow understands he needs to slide after crossing the first-down marker or go out of bounds rather than take on a safety.</p><p>But those moves contradict his zeal for sacrificing himself for the team's sake.</p><p>“Of course you want him to protect himself,” linebacker Wesley Woodyard said. “But, honestly, as a defensive guy, we feed off it when you see your quarterback go out and track down people, show a hard-nosed mentality. We like that spirit from your quarterback.” </p><p>Although there is no serious damage to Tebow's ribs, he is questionable to play Saturday night in the Broncos' second preseason game against Detroit.</p><p>“The fellow's got a nice game to him,” Broncos linebacker Mario Haggan said. “He changes a defense like Vince Young and Michael Vick does. You can't sit back and play a lot of coverage — you've got to have a spy. So that opens up a lot of things when he's in there.”</p>