HOUSTON — The visitor’s locker room was quiet with anticipation.
Rex Ryan, standing in the middle of the room following his first NFL victory as a head coach, a 24-7 Jets’ dismantling of the Texans yesterday at Reliant Stadium, handed the game ball to team owner Woody Johnson and said a few words. His eyes watered as the powerful emotion of the moment overcame him.
Ryan’s first victory, signaling a new Jets era rife with tantalizing potential, was not lost on his players as they stood quietly and watched the emotional moment unfold.
“We were really excited for him, but I don’t think it was getting him his first win that we were excited about — it was how he responded to it,” nose tackle Kris Jenkins told The Post. “After the game he was talking to the team and he gave the game ball to the owner and he got choked up because of the opportunity he was given. You could really feel the emotion.
“A lot of people might laugh that he cried. But for us guys who are older and understand the game, we understood. That really shows how much he really cares about this team and how he’s putting his heart and soul into this team. I don’t want another coach, honestly. If I can keep him for the rest of my career, I’m going to do the best that I can to do that.”
Players were so blown away by the emotion Ryan displayed in the Saturday night meeting at the team hotel they wanted to suit up right there and play.
“We need to call the NFLPA and put (Ryan) on the banned substance list, because whatever he did, what he said was performance-enhancing,” Jenkins said.
“He let out 52 F-bombs. I counted them,” Jets kicker Jay Feely said.
As he was about to board the team bus after the game, Ryan told The Post that his decision to give the game ball to Johnson wasn’t premeditated.
“It just happened,” Ryan said. “He pulled the trigger on me when nobody else would.”
You can see the players’ appreciation for Ryan on the field, where the Jets yesterday looked like a team that had been building its chemistry for several years rather than the several months they’ve been together.
What transpired on the Reliant Stadium field could not have been scripted more perfectly for the Jets.
* Rookie QB Mark Sanchez, making his first NFL start, looked like a seasoned veteran, completing 18-of-31 passes for 272 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Illustrating just how poised Sanchez was, of his 272 passing yards, 191 came on third-down, where the Jets converted 10-of-18.
* Ryan’s defense — the one he’s been touting since the day he arrived — was as advertised, positively stifling a powerful Texans offense, holding it to 183 total yards and forcing two turnovers. The deepest the Texans’ offense got into Jets territory was the 35-yard line.
The Jets’ offense, which racked up 462 total yards, played a complete game, starting with standout protection of Sanchez on the offensive line.
Thomas Jones, who rushed for 107 yards on 20 carries, scored twice — a 1-yard plunge that gave the Jets a 17-0 lead and a 38-yard run that made it 24-7.
Sanchez engineered a 16-play, 68-yard drive that ate 8:27 off the first-quarter clock and ended in a 24-yard Feely field goal for a 3-0 lead. Sanchez connected with Chansi Stuckey for a 30-yard TD pass that gave the Jets a 10-0 lead in the second quarter.
“Nice start, huh?” right tackle Damien Woody said. “One down.”
Asked what kind of message this game sent to the rest of the league, Ryan said, “Same one I’ve been sending since the day I got here. I believe in this football team. I believe in the coaches we have. I believe in the players we have. I’ve been saying it all along, just nobody wanted to listen.”
Anybody who wasn’t before is listening now.