Tim Tebow put his Wildcat back in a cage.
When the Jets’ backup quarterback was informed on Tuesday he was being passed over for Greg McElroy and would be the third-string quarterback in today’s game against the Chargers, he told coach Rex Ryan he didn’t want to be part of the Wildcat package, but solely a conventional quarterback, multiple sources told The Post.
Tebow conspicuously remained on the sideline when the Jets finally unveiled the Wildcat in their ugly 27-17 loss to the Chargers at MetLife Stadium.
In Tebow’s place, Jeremy Kerley, the team’s de facto No. 1 wide receiver, did what the former Heisman Trophy winner couldn’t, delivering a huge play, a 42-yard pass to Clyde Gates in the first quarter.
It never gets dull with Ryan and Company, even when they have been eliminated from the playoffs and are playing in a half-empty stadium.
It was another odd turn in Tebow’s season full of inactivity. He was one of three Jets quarterbacks active for the contest — the first time Ryan has dressed three quarterbacks this disastrous season — though along with benched former starter Mark Sanchez, he never left the sideline.
“I thought we had to create some big opportunities, some big plays,” Ryan said, in explaining using Kerley under center. “That was my decision.”
Ryan didn’t detail why he opted to go with three quarterbacks when he was opposed to doing so all season. He said the Jets practiced the Wildcat this week with Kerley and the wideout impressed him with his arm.
Greg McElroy took all the snaps in place of Sanchez and struggled under the relentless Chargers pass rush. The second-year signal-caller out of Alabama was sacked 11 times and committed two turnovers.
The move to Kerley sparked the Jets early, as he completed the deep pass to Gates, the longest pass of the day by Gang Green.
Kerley’s pass set up the first of two Shonn Greene 1-yard touchdown runs. On the play, Gates was wide open, but the pass hung up like a pop fly.
Kerley was under center four times and completed a second pass, a 3-yard delivery to Lex Hilliard, which was nullified by a Brandon Moore penalty. The second-year pro also carried the ball once for a yard and handed off to Greene once.
“I just stepped up and played the spot,” said Kerley, a former high school quarterback.
The completion to Gates was 3 yards longer than Tebow has amassed through the air this year, and the kind of play the Jets talked about when they brought in Tebow during the offseason. That never materialized.
“It’s been disappointing,” Tebow said. “Obviously, it didn’t go as we thought, as I had hoped.”
Tebow declined to directly comment on a report that it is a “virtual certainty” he will land with his hometown Jaguars next year. He did say he remains confident in himself, even though the Jets coaches clearly aren’t.
“I believe in my God-given ability to play this game of football,” Tebow said. “I’ve been playing it for a long time and look forward to playing it some more.”
The introduction of Kerley in the Wildcat was confusing, at the time, on many levels. First, offensive coordinator Tony Sparano waited until Week 16 to unveil the Wildcat, when the Jets talked about how the acquisition of Tebow would add another dimension to the offense. Instead, the Jets have stayed away from him like the plague, allowing him to attempt just eight passes. And when Ryan opted to go away from the struggling Sanchez, he skipped over Tebow for McElroy, a seventh-round pick. Furthermore, if the plan was to use Kerley under center, why make Tebow active?
Tebow smiled and briefly chuckled when asked if he has been treated fairly by the Jets, before giving one of his typically canned answers.
His decision to take himself out of the Wildcat was his answer.
zbraziller@nypost.com