There was a world champion in the Jets’ midst yesterday.
In what will go down as one of the most unique behind-the-scenes moments in Jets history, Joe Girardi visited practice yesterday and helped teach Mark Sanchez some sliding techniques.
Making the visit most surreal is the fact Rex Ryan called Yankees president Randy Levine yesterday morning and asked him if he could send someone over to help give his rookie quarterback some sliding tips.
Enter the World Series champion manager, who rallied over to the Jets’ Florham Park, N.J., facility on no notice, spoke to the team after practice then worked with Sanchez with a sliding mat, on which he demonstrated how to slide.
Sanchez tweaked (Ryan’s word) his left knee after an awkward scramble Sunday against Carolina. The rookie quarterback, who wears a protective brace on his left knee, often slides head-first when he scrambles, something that has alarmed Ryan.
“I told Schotty [offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer], ‘I’m going over your head. We’re bringing in a world champ to get this done,’” Ryan said jokingly. “[Sanchez] is too valuable, and he needs to understand that we need him out there and people are going to take shots at him if he doesn’t start sliding.
“I really did want to make an emphasis to Mark and get the best guy that we can in the area. I made a call to the Yankees, and I was really happy that Girardi came over and did that for us.”
Ryan said, when he called Levine, “I had no idea who would come down, but I knew whoever it would be from the Yankees would be a lot more impactful than if I would teach Sanchez how to slide. I thought Joe might be in Miami; I wasn’t sure where he was going to be at. When I found out that he was in town, it was awesome.”
Not as awesome, perhaps, as it was for Sanchez.
“It meant a lot to me personally for him to come out, take time out of his schedule . . . to help me out with something like sliding,” Sanchez said. “There’s nobody better to get coaching from than him, especially in this area.
“I’ve never really been a slider. In baseball, I slid head first. In football, I’ve done the same thing, or tried to get out of bounds or throw the ball away.”
Girardi had to work around the brace on Sanchez’s left leg.
“We tried to help him learn how to slide on the other leg,” Girardi said. “It’s not an easy thing to do.”
Sanchez said Girardi taught him how to “hook” the leg because “you don’t want to hook that leg into the ground because it might get stuck.”
Girardi, who brought his son Dante with him, enjoyed the jump to another sport.
“It was a real pleasure to be around coach Ryan and the team,” Girardi said. “My son Dante had a blast as well. He even caught a few passes from Mark.”
“He showed me how to protect the ball while I’m sliding and try not to fall on one side or the other on my shoulder, just absorb the blow with my butt and my legs,” Sanchez said. “It was important for me to learn that and I really appreciated it.”
mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com