NFL

NO LIE, JETS’ GREENE HAS HONEST TALENT

Jets coach Rex Ryan is already impressed with one aspect of his new running back, Shonn Greene — the rookie’s honesty.

During the team’s rookie minicamp Friday afternoon, quarterback Mark Sanchez threw a swing pass to Greene that bounced right off his hands and landed on the turf of the indoor practice facility. Sanchez ran over and apologized to Greene, telling him he should have placed the ball on his other shoulder.

Greene responded, “I just don’t catch very well.”

“At least the kid’s honest,” Ryan said with a smile when retelling the story.

The Jets’ decision to move up in the NFL Draft and snag Sanchez has drawn all the attention, but their decision to ship three second-day picks to Detroit to move up and take Greene at the top of the third round might have been a bigger roll of the dice.

Greene had an outstanding 2008 season at Iowa, but there are questions about his speed, his hands and whether he can maintain the production of last season, when he had 1,850 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns.

Greene could have returned to Iowa for his senior season and likely would have been a Heisman Trophy candidate. Instead, he declared for the draft after the Hawkeyes’ Outback Bowl win over South Carolina.

“Most of all it was a gut feeling,” said Greene, who will be 24 in August. “The production I had, and it was just a dream. Everybody dreams of playing in the NFL if you’re into football. The opportunity was there and I decided to take it.”

The Jets took him with the first pick of the third round, the next chapter in his comeback story. He missed the entire 2007 season at Iowa because he was academically ineligible. Greene enrolled in Kirkwood Community College to get his grades up and earned the money to pay for his tuition by working at a local furniture warehouse.

Greene spent days unloading couches off of trucks for $8 an hour and plotting his return to the field.

“I had my mind set that this is what I’m going to do and I was going to get there,” Greene said. “I basically followed the game plan.”

During the team’s minicamp this weekend, Greene showed a better burst than the draft analysts gave him credit for and it’s clear he’s going to run over some defenders.

“I love the way guys bounce off him,” Ryan said. “He comes rolling in there, guys are going flying. Guys are trying to tag him; his teammate went flying today, bounced off him.”

brian.costello@nypost.com