Rex Ryan has sent out a call for help. Ryan wants you.
He’s imploring Jets fans to make Giants Stadium “miserable” for the Patriots on Sunday, by cheering on the home team with unabashed passion and jeering the opponents with lung-ravaging abandon.
“I want our fans to be a factor in this game,” Ryan said yesterday.
The Jets colorful rookie head coach is so serious about this that he sent out a recorded telephone message to every season-ticket holder yesterday.
Among the highlights in the message:
l “I just want to let you know how much we need you this week. I’ve already admitted that the Patriots have a better head coach and they’ve got a better quarterback than us, but we’ve got to see who’s got a better team.”
l “The reason I’m so confident is that they’ve got to face you . . . and my challenge to you is that we need you at your best, so let’s get ready to go for four quarters and get after them, especially when our defense is out there.”
l “We really need you and we want it to be miserable for [Tom] Brady and company and seem like there’s 13 or 14 guys out there on defense. It’s tough enough when we have 11, but when our fans are into it, it’s almost impossible to do anything against us.”
l “So, that’s my challenge to you, and again, I admit that I’m not as good as [Bill] Belichick, but at the end of the game, I want to be 1-0 against him. So, help me out if you don’t mind. OK? Thank you. Bye.”
This is the second such message Ryan has delivered to fans this way. Before training camp, he sent out a motivational message to fans.
The Patriots have beaten the Jets the last eight times the teams have played at Giants Stadium, something that eats at all the Jets — new and old.
“Embarrassing,” Jets CB Darrelle Revis said yesterday of the streak.
“That’s why my challenge is going out to our fans. We need a little Hamburger Helper here,” Ryan said. “We’re looking to get an edge any way we can get it. If that means our fans stepping up and being as loud as they can be, making it difficult for [the Patriots] to communicate on offense then so be it.
“I don’t want to be the ninth [victim] in a row.”
Jets linebacker Bart Scott, one of the newcomers, is “excited for the New York fans to show me what they’ve got.”
Jets wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery predicted Sunday’s atmosphere at Giants Stadium is “going to be crazy.”
“We’re trying to start a new era around here where we protect our home turf,” Cotchery said. “Our fans are already loud, but we’re going to give them something to cheer even louder about.”
*
Jets DE Shaun Ellis, after serving his one-game suspension for his marijuana bust last year, returned to practice yesterday and will start Sunday. He called not playing last week “difficult,” adding, “It was hard on game day waking up and not knowing what to do. This game means a lot to me, and to sit back and not be able to play that week opened my eyes to how important this is to me.”
*
Several Jets, including DT Kris Jenkins, were limited in practice yesterday. Jenkins, whose back was hurting, said he’ll be fine and that he saw a chiropractor yesterday as a precaution. The other players limited were DT Sione Pouha (ankle), RT Damien Woody (illness) and WR Wallace Wright (hamstring).
*
Ryan was upfront about the fact that he’s “picked” the brain of former Patriots QB Kevin O’Connell, now a Jets reserve. He said O’Connell told him the Patriots were working on preparing for the Jets defense back in March. “I know the perception is out there that who cares for the Jets?” Ryan said. “But apparently they did.”
*
Patriots LB Jerod Mayo did not work out with the team yesterday, two days after being injured in a 25-24 win over the Bills. He suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament and could miss up to eight weeks, the Boston Globe reported.
mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com