NFL

Ryan, Sanchez eye turning season around

With his veteran-laden win now team having played itself out of the playoff picture before ovens were preheated to 350 degrees to cook the Thanksgiving turkeys, Rex Ryan has frantically pushed a lot of buttons in the last two weeks in an effort to stop his rookie season from spiraling into something truly embarrassing.

His Jets are 4-6 entering Sunday’s home game against 4-6 Carolina, but it’s worse than it looks.

They have lost six of their last seven games to curb the enthusiasm of their promising 3-0 start and their quarterback, Mark Sanchez, has, at times, looked more like a freshman in high school than an NFL rookie experiencing a new level of the game for the first time.

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So herein lies Ryan’s latest desperate move to try to save the season: He’s tied himself to the hip of Sanchez and has put in a code “system” of sorts to stop him from making poor decisions in games that lead to game-changing turnovers.

Sanchez has turned the ball over 19 times this season — 16 interceptions and three lost fumbles. That’s more turnovers than 20 NFL teams have this season.

Since the 3-0 start when he threw four touchdowns and two interceptions, Sanchez has thrown 14 interceptions and only six touchdowns as the Jets have gone 1-6. You do the math.

In Sanchez’s three worst performances of the season — losses to New Orleans, Buffalo and New England — he’s thrown only one TD and 12 interceptions. Those are obviously the three games Sanchez has outright lost for the Jets.

Ryan, defending his decision not to bench Sanchez, said Sanchez “has played well enough to win seven games” this season.

Whether that’s completely true cannot be measured, but the Jets have indeed lost one game because of the worst special teams performance of Mike Westhoff’s career and a couple more because of defensive breakdowns.

So Sanchez is here to stay this season, and Ryan is determined to make something out of 2009 yet.

Like Sanchez has talked about “pressing” at times to make plays, Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme related with his early-season interception troubles that led to his 14 entering Sunday.

“When you [press], those [turnovers] tend to come and they came in bunches to the point where you’ve just got to say, ‘To heck with it’ and just play,” Delhomme said. “Don’t be petrified about making a mistake. You’ve just got to work through it.”

Delhomme said he has a hard time relating to Sanchez, because he didn’t start right away in the NFL.

“I can’t say that I know exactly what he’s going through because as a rookie [and], at best, I was holding a clip board,” he said. “When you come to the NFL, it’s very different. The speed of the guys here is great.”

The Jets, of course, were banking on a speedy transition to the NFL for Sanchez, who started only 16 games in college. Perhaps they bit off more than they could chew this first season by starting Sanchez right away. Perhaps, though, starting him immediately will accelerate his progress.

“It’s very difficult because you want to see some productivity and if you don’t get anything done and you’re turning the ball over, it just kind of eats away at you,” Delhomme said.

Sanchez knows the feeling well, but he’s been fortunate to have a lot of support. While the veterans are frustrated, the under-the-breath whispers of disapproval in the locker room have been virtually nonexistent.

A lot of that stems from the fact that Sanchez has been diligent with his work, humble around his teammates and stand-up accountable for his mistakes.

“You can’t just give games away like (I have),” Sanchez said. “Three games are just glaring. If you want to pick someone who lost the game (in this instance), it’s pretty easy to pick it out. It can’t happen. We have to give ourselves a chance and not give the ball to the other team. It hurts us.”

One thing that buoys Sanchez is the support he’s gotten from his teammates and coaches.

“The team has definitely kept their confidence in me and that means the world to me,” Sanchez said. “It’s pretty special to know that they’re in this with you. They just talk about keep fighting, keep playing, keep your head up, don’t ever doubt yourself. That’s great. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Except, of course, for better results.

mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com