John Elway hasn’t held a position in the Broncos’ front office for very long but already he’s backpedaling after making some newsworthy comments.

While speaking recently to SI.com’s Peter King, Elway said: “I don’t think Tim Tebow is a good NFL quarterback at this time.” This propelled King to write that the Broncos may look to trade Tebow in the offseason.

On Sunday, Elway was already looking to douse water on the fire.

“To clarify my thoughts on Tim Tebow … I think he’s a very good football player, and if anyone can turn themselves into a great quarterback, Tim can,” Elway wrote.

“Myself and our entire organization think very highly of him. We are pleased with his first year as a Bronco.

“Any speculation that the Denver Broncos are considering moving Tim is completely false.”

I bet Elway meant what he said the first time about Tebow. He doesn’t think he’s a good NFL quarterback yet and he probably has doubts that he’ll ever be a quality starter in the league. I think he realized how far his words could spread in a short matter of time, which is why he quickly clarified what he said after he saw how things started to unravel.

That said, that doesn’t mean that the Broncos are going to trade Tebow or that Elway believes that the former first round pick can’t develop. But Elway probably has the same thoughts that a lot of people do: Tebow is one massive project as a quarterback and winning a couple of meaningless games at the end of the year doesn’t change that.