WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — If you take Urban Meyer at his word, neither he nor the doctors tending to concussed Gators quarterback Tim Tebow are going to allow him to do any football work "until Tim is Tim" again.
The point being that nobody who professes to care about Tebow is going to give him permission to practice, let alone play, until he displays no symptoms of the concussion he suffered on Saturday after absorbing two frightening hits on one play.
 BRANT SANDERLIN/Cox Newspapers Florida quarterback Tim Tebow (15) in action against Georgia defensive tackle Geno Atkins (56) last season. For a larger, high resolution image, click HERE |
That's as it should be.
And it's the physicians who will take care of those matters, anyway.
But if, in fact, Tebow is cleared to play in top-ranked Florida's next game at LSU — as nasty an assignment as any on its regular-season schedule — then it falls to Meyer to let Tim be Tim again in the reality of competition.
To that end, then, it falls to Meyer long before the Oct. 10 kickoff to tell every physician working the case the same thing: Don't give me back my superstar unless my coaches have the assurance they can call the plays, without hesitancy, at which he's best.
There's no middle ground here. No concessions. If he is declared to be good to go, then Tebow has to be good to go all-out.
Otherwise?
Well, otherwise, it makes no sense for Tebow to wear a uniform.
He's a battering-ram of a quarterback. There can be no shackles put on Tebow if and when he returns, or it's not worth anyone's while for him to be anything other than a cheerleader who happens to be a Heisman Trophy-winning double national champion.
There's probably nothing for Florida fans to worry about in this regard, quite frankly, and for a couple of reasons. The first one is Tebow; the second is Meyer.
They are maniacal competitors, both.
Tebow's toughness has never been questioned. It's unlikely he's going to start avoiding contact when it appears as though he has lived every moment of his career seeking it. A return from a concussion — and in the nighttime cauldron of Tiger Stadium — will only add to the Tebow legend and lore.
Now, too, he can point to the fact that the blows he took happened on a play when he was simply setting up to pass. Tebow is probably more certain than ever that he's better off on the move looking for yardage he is standing still in the pocket.
As for Meyer, he's the guy who said of Tebow that "you have to shoot him to hold him out."
That was Meyer's mind-boggling explanation for still having Tebow in the game late in the third quarter Saturday at Kentucky with the Gators holding a 31-7 lead, which is when he took the concussion-causing sack. Tebow was playing with the flu, in the first place. He had taken intravenous fluids before the game, and had played well.
Any talk that the game remained in doubt is ridiculous. Kentucky wasn't going to get within sniffing distance of the Gators whether they were using Tebow or not. The final score of 41-7 offers proof.
And what about the proposed development of redshirt sophomore quarterback John Brantley, who'll inherit the position when Tebow completes this senior season? The second half at Kentucky sure looked like an accommodating place for such a substitution.
The fact that Meyer kept an already-ill Tebow involved in a rout of a game — combined with the "you have to shoot him" explanation for having done so — suggests that the coach will use his quarterback to full extent as soon as he has him.
"That's one tough cat," Meyer has said of Tebow during the recovery process.
Never has Tebow displayed an inclination to be anything else.
Never has Meyer displayed an inclination to tell him to tone down that act.
Now isn't the time for either of them to change.
Greg Stoda writes for The Palm Beach Post. E-mail: greg(underscore)stoda(at)pbpost.com.
