Fans plan pro-Tim Tebow billboards

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Denver Broncos coach John Fox has claimed that he didn't hear the chants at Sports Authority Field at Mile High calling for Tim Tebow to take the field on Monday night. He might soon be seeing those demands in large print.

A group of Broncos fans told the Denver Post and USA Today that they plan to purchase billboards in Denver, calling for the team to bench quarterback Kyle Orton and play Tebow instead.

"We believe in Coach Fox. We're just tired of Kyle Orton," Jesse Oaks told the Denver Post. "We were sitting around after Fox said he didn't hear the chants for (Tim) Tebow and we figured if he's deaf, we hope he's not blind."

Oaks, who lives in Kentucky, told the newspapers that he and seven other friends were saving up money to attend the Super Bowl in Indianapolis after this season but came up with a different way to spend the money after watching the Broncos' season-opening loss to the Raiders.

Oaks told the Post he was told it would cost $10,000 to purchase space on two billboards in Denver.

He then posted their plan Wednesday on the message board on the team's official website. Oaks said that he has received messages of support and even contributions from other Broncos fans.

Oaks told USA Today that he'd be OK with anybody at quaterback other than Orton.

"We're not Tebow fanatics, we think Tebow gives us the best chance to win," Oaks told the newspaper. "But if Brady Quinn or even Adam Weber (on the practice squad) can give us a chance, that's what we want."

Orton played poorly in the opener, completing 24 of his 46 passes, throwing an interception and dropping the ball without getting hit for another turnover in the fourth quarter with his tight end open in the end zone for the potential go-ahead score.

Orton grew testy when a reporter asked him Wednesday if he felt any added pressure with the fans booing him and calling for Tebow to replace him.

"No, not at all. I'm not going to sit here and waste my time answering questions about it, to be honest with you," Orton said. "Until Coach Fox comes to me, he's the only one that I'm going to listen to. So, I'd rather you guys not waste my time with the questions because I'm not going to answer them."

Asked if the criticism of Orton was fair, Fox said, "Life's not fair, but at the end of the day, he'll bounce back. I have all the confidence in the world in him. He did a lot of good things Monday night as well, so we've got some things we need to correct and we'll do that."

Orton said the contingent of fans voicing their disapproval don't bother him.

"I just look at it like I don't care," Orton said. "(Fox's) opinion and my teammates' opinions will always be the ones that matter."

And Fox is solidly in his corner.

"Right now we feel like Kyle Orton gives us our best chance," Fox said. "Even the staff before us felt that way. ... Right now, he's our starting quarterback. There's no question about that. Like our whole team, we've got some room for improvement this week."

Broncos receiver Brandon Lloyd and some of his teammates told ESPN's Josina Anderson this week that they are fed up with the so-called quarterback controversy. Lloyd called the situation "all B.S."

"That's the circumstances that we're in. That's the climate that we're in, and we knew we were going to be in -- so be it. There's no being patient with Kyle. Kyle is ready to go. He didn't perform maybe as well as people expected him to. Whatever. He's our quarterback, and we're going to eventually win games," Lloyd said.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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