NFL

Jets’ Ryan doesn’t believe Tebow is healthy

There is no need to be inside Tim Tebow’s head to know that the man struggles to tell a lie.

Asked yesterday if he is healthy, if his fractured ribs could enable him to be the primary backup quarterback for the Jets this Sunday in Jacksonville, Tebow cracked a smile and laughed.

“It shows some healing, but still fractured,” Tebow said on the day Mark Sanchez was named the starter. “I let it go a few times [in practice] today. You know, it’s not 100 percent, but I can still throw OK.”

Coach Rex Ryan said if he was convinced Tebow was fully healthy, he would be the No. 2 quarterback over Greg McElroy. But that issue itself is still up in the air, as Tebow is set to undergo more X-rays later in the week.

“I know he’s been cleared to play, but I don’t believe he’s been healthy for what I think he should be,” Ryan said. “If that was my son, I would not want him playing. And that’s how I look at this. But if he was completely healthy, Tim would be our No. 2.”

Tebow was more active in yesterday’s practice than he has been in weeks, participating in more drills and throwing the ball more than in weeks past. But he said he believes he can perform at a high level this week if called upon.

“I hope so and I believe so,” Tebow said. “I did [more today]. It’s getting closer.”

Tebow said Ryan came into the quarterback meeting yesterday morning and spent “five or 10 minutes” talking to them and explaining his decision to go with Sanchez as the starter.

“He just said he believes in all of us,” Tebow said.

On Thanksgiving night against the Patriots, Tebow talked Ryan into letting him dress as the backup, and he didn’t play one snap as the Jets were demolished, 49-19. Ryan later said he regretted letting Tebow sway him, just two weeks after the former Heisman Trophy winner fractured his ribs in a loss against the Seahawks.

Because Tebow was inactive last week against the Cardinals, when Ryan decided he had seen enough of Sanchez late in the third quarter, it was McElroy who got to ditch the clipboard and lead his first NFL touchdown drive, giving the Jets an ugly 7-6 win.

The situation concerning what would have happened had Tebow been healthy — and how that would have influenced Ryan’s decision to name Sanchez the starter — is a hypothetical everyone involved does not want to touch.

“I try not to wonder what-ifs, because if you do that then you’re not enjoying the moment, you’re not focusing on the moment,” Tebow said. “So I don’t want to live my life thinking about the what-ifs.”

bcyrgalis@nypost.com