Denver, CO

Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is staying cool amid harsh criticism from across the NFL and the endless of world of sports media.

Earlier this week, Tebow refused to fan the flames surrounding several Lions players mocking the praying stance associated with his name. Detroit players Stephen Tulloch and Tony Scheffler mockingly bowed their heads in prayer after big plays Sunday in a 45-10 drubbing of the Broncos.

"Obviously, you don't know somebody's intentions, so I won't judge what he did," Tebow said yesterday at his weekly news conference. "He was probably just having fun and was excited he made a good play and had a sack. And good for him. He was just celebrating and having fun with his teammates, and I don't take offense at that. I was more bothered I gave up the sack and didn't break the tackle.

The highly-criticized quarterback continued to remain cool in a press conference Wednesday when confronted with some of those comments. The barrage continued after the game when several Lions players and Raiders coach Hue Jackson, the Broncos' opponents this week, offered Tebow harsh words.

"Honestly, I don't really take offense to that," Tebow said of the comments. "I'll just try to get better from that game and improve and just continue to get better as a football player."

"I hope he doesn't get it right this week. I hope he continues to do what he's being doing, keep it that way," said Jackson.

Tebow went just 18-for-39 for 172 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but played worse than his stat line against the Lions.

"You're going to have people that praise you and people that criticize you and everything in between. If I listened to everything that you all say, my world would be so up and down. I'm grounded upon my faith, my family, and that's what grounds me. Football is what I do for a living and what I do for fun. If I rode the roller coaster of what everybody says about me then my life would be a lot more hectic than what it is."

The second-year pro looks to quiet the doubters and improve on his 75.1 quarterback rating against the Raiders Sunday.

Twitter: @ihavenet

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