PHILADELPHIA -- Many of the 105 sets of eyes in attendance at the first Eagles OTA practice open to the media were trained on quarterback Tim Tebow.

Tebow, signed by the Eagles this spring after a two-year absence from the NFL looked about as could be expected from a No. 4 quarterback in his first week back onto the practice field. He held the ball, and held the ball and held the ball some more during seven-on-seven drills. His mechanics seemed improved from when he was at Novacare as a member of the New England Patriots in 2013, but he did not seem confident in his reads or progressions in Thursday's practice.

With Sam Bradford limited, and not yet able to throw in seven-on-sevens as he continues on the road to recovery from a pair of torn ACLs, Mark Sanchez, Matt Barkley and Tebow saw plenty of reps.

Barkley, who had been the subject of trade rumors during the offseason, bristled at the notion that he is competing for the third quarterback job, despite the fact that that is what appears to be Tebow's ceiling at the moment.

"Confident," Barkley said of his current temperament entering his third NFL summer. "I love competing. I feel like it's Mark [Sanchez] and I right now going back and forth between the ones and twos. It's good, pushing each other and making each other better.

"I think between the four of us we have a really good quarterback room. Sam's mentally challenging us right now. We're pushing him mentally, until he gets out here. Tim adds a level of competition in how he competes every day with that athleticism. So, it's a good group right now."

Barkley's self-confidence is certainly evident. Even if the Eagles' confidence in his ability to lock down one of the top-three quarterback positions wasn't so after the team signed Tebow. How this position battle plays out will be an intriguing aspect of what promises to be an intriguing summer at One Novacare Way.

Matt Lombardo may be reached at MDLombardo@yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardo975. Find NJ.com Philadelphia Sports on Facebook