NFL

No Clowney around: Ryan benched David for tweet

If you think Rex Ryan is just a happy-go-lucky players’ coach, consider a few things he’s done lately to show his disciplined side.

After a spotty practice last Thursday, Ryan admonished his players, who said after the win against Tennessee Sunday they might not have won the game had Ryan not set them straight.

Yesterday, Ryan revealed why he left David Clowney on the inactive list for the Titans game, a move that seemed questionable, considering Clowney is the team’s fastest receiver.

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Ryan, whose mantra is so strongly about the team coming first, was irked when he was informed of a message Clowney put on his Twitter page after the win over the Patriots stating his displeasure about not enough playing time.

At 4:41 p.m. on Sept. 20, less than an hour after the Jets defeated the Patriots, Clowney posted this message: “1 play in the 1st Half, 4 plays in the 2nd half . . . A bit disappointed about my playing time but very happy and satisfied about the win.”

He did also send these two messages minutes afterward: “Just time to work harder for next week,” and “My team always comes first so I’m just keep grinding . . . And we gonna keep winning.”

“I was upset with him,” Ryan said yesterday. “This is about ‘team.’ ”

Ryan said he brought Clowney in to his office the day after the game and told him he’d be inactive for the Tennessee game.

“I’m not a big Twitter guy, but you hear different things,” Ryan said. “To me, it’s about your team. No individual is bigger than the team. So if I feel a guy is not putting the team first, then I’ll make the decision to put the guy down.

“I put David down. That was my decision. I wanted to see how David would respond. David had two options: He could have come out and been upset and pouted or he could come out and been a Jet, worked his tail off and showed me that he wants to do it our way.

“He did exactly that. He was phenomenal in preparation. I’ll probably give him scout team player of the week. He humbled himself. I was encouraged and excited about what I thought was progress last week. He really took the challenge and he made his teammates better this week by challenging them.

“I mean, he’s got no business to be on (the inactive list). He’s too talented, too athletic, too fast.”