Rex Ryan needs to make out a check.
The Jets fined their head coach $50,000 today for flipping off fans in Miami on Saturday, discipline that may result in Ryan avoiding a fine from the NFL.
Ryan apologized Sunday for the gesture, which was done at a Mixed Martial Arts event, and Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum had verbally admonished Ryan.
Over the weekend, Tannenbaum said, “Rex showed extremely poor judgment and his conduct was inappropriate.”
Ryan admitted, “It was stupid and inappropriate.”
Ryan’s agent, David Dunn, did not respond to an e-mail today seeking comment from either him or his client.
Ryan, in the Sunshine State for the Pro Bowl, was doing an interview with a Showtime reporter that was piped through the arena. Through a raucous chorus of boos, he delivered one of his bold predictions: “I just want to tell everyone in Miami that we’re coming to beat you twice next year.”
Later, as the arena emptied, he raised the middle finger of his right hand at several Dolphins fans.
David M. Hildenbrand, the Dolphins fan who took the picture, told The Post that Ryan “was walking by us after the event and a couple buddies of mine said some things like, ‘Dolphins rule, Jets suck.’ ”
“[Ryan] looked at us and said, ‘Go f- – – yourselves,’ and then he gave us the finger.”
When Ryan flipped the bird, fans started shouting things at him like, “Manning whupped you,” referring to Colts quarterback Peyton, who defeated Ryan’s Jets in the AFC Championship.
“He was being a smart-ass,” Hildenbrand said of Ryan. “That didn’t surprise me, seeing the way he coaches and how he talks.”
Ryan’s players at the Pro Bowl backed their coach.
“He’s one of those guys who if you come at me, I’m coming at you. It was all in fun,” Shaun Ellis said. “They were probably yelling and talking stuff at him and it ticked him off. Fans can be like that.”
An NFL source told The Post it’s very likely that, if the Jets fined Ryan internally, the league would not follow up with another fine.
“The Jets said in their statement [by general manager Mike Tannenbaum] that they might do something,” the source said. “This is not double-jeopardy. If a [team] imposes discipline on the employee, then [the league] doesn’t usually do it.”
With Mark Cannizzaro