Mark Sanchez — the Sanchise — appears to be headed for knee surgery.
In a curious twist, however, it’s the Jets quarterback’s left knee that would be operated on, not the right knee, which he injured during his rookie NFL season.
When The Post was first to report exclusively on Wednesday that Sanchez was in Birmingham, Ala., to see renowned orthopedist Dr. James Andrews about his knee, it was believed he was seeking a second opinion on his right knee.
That, however, was not the case.
Sanchez does not need surgery on his right knee, but will undertake offseason rehabilitation.
Both the Jets’ medical staff and Dr. Andrews recommended that Sanchez have an “elective” procedure on his left knee to stabilize the ligaments around the patella, which Sanchez dislocated during a preseason practice at USC in August of 2008.
According to the Jets, Sanchez is mulling whether he wants to have the surgery, but it’s believed he’ll go ahead with it, meaning he would have to rehab both knees during the offseason.
Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum insisted yesterday that if Sanchez does have surgery, he will be ready to go when training camp begins in July.
“It’s Mark’s decision [whether to have surgery],” Tannenbaum said. “He has to make the final decision. The big picture here is he’s going to be fine; his knees are going to be great and he’ll be ready to go well before camp.”
Ever since Sanchez suffered the dislocated left kneecap before the 2008 collegiate season, he has worn a brace on his left knee as a precaution.
In the Jets’ win over the Panthers on Nov. 29, Sanchez tweaked that left knee while scrambling toward the sideline, but he continued to play.
That incident spurred Rex Ryan to ask the Yankees to send a sliding coach — who turned out to be manager Joe Girardi — to a Jets practice to teach Sanchez how to slide feet-first.
In the next game, the Jets’ Dec. 3 win over the Bills in Toronto, Sanchez sprained the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while diving forward (rather than sliding feet-first) trying to make a first down. That forced him to miss the Dec. 13 game against the Buccaneers in Tampa.
If Sanchez opts to have the procedure on the left knee, it almost certainly will limit his participation in spring minicamps and the organized team activities (OTAs) that take place in June.
“If there’s any procedure it won’t be anything significant,” Tannenbaum said. “It’s going to be much more of a rehab situation, more preventative, strengthening, things like that. But he will definitely be ready before camp.”
Asked what the timetable is for Sanchez to decide on whether to have surgery, Tannenbaum said, “It certainly would be much sooner than later,” indicating that the decision will be made within a couple of days.
“Everyone is on the same page; it’s not going to be anything major,” Tannenbaum said. “We expect him to be fully healthy before camp.”
If Sanchez has the surgery, it’s believed that it would limit his activity for about two months.
The Jets begin their offseason conditioning program in March and usually start the OTAs in early May with the veteran minicamp in early June,
There surely would be a concern over Sanchez being limited in those offseason activities — valuable time for development and team chemistry, particularly for a developing player.
“You don’t want to have anybody miss time, especially a young quarterback,” Tannenbaum said. “But we’ll balance that out with a medical procedure that may give him more stability in there and give him a chance to play without any worry whatsoever.
“We want to look at what’s going to give him the best chance to be successful over the whole season.”