NFL

Ryan & Co. pull strings to rein in Sanchez

Mark Sanchez is now the puppet quarterback of the Jets. On the sidelines between series, coach Rex Ryan pulls his strings. Over the headset, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer pulls his strings. Then the puppet quarterback goes out and manages the game. Or, better yet, manages not to lose the game.

The offensive mindset is dictated to the puppet quarterback by color codes on his wristband. Red means hand the ball to Thomas Jones or Shonn Greene. Yellow means caution, maybe a checkdown pass to one of the backs, Green means go ahead and take a shot, kid . . . maybe a missile over the middle to tight end Dustin Keller, or a slant to Braylon Edwards.

“I call them Life Savers, like a pack of Life Savers,” tackle Damien Woody said.

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The idea is to tame the wild beast that lives inside Sanchez, to keep him from being the reckless, wild-eyed novice who has ruined three games for his team . . . to keep him from being Jake Delhomme (two gift picks for Kerry Rhodes, two gift picks and one touchdown for Darrelle Revis yesterday).

“I think it was more just his competitiveness previously that sometimes maybe got in his way a little bit. … If he made a mistake then he’d want to come right back at’cha,” Ryan said after Jets 17, Panthers 6. “It’s like, ‘I’m gonna show you.’ Where sometimes that might be the best course of action.”

It’s a shame the rookie puppeteer didn’t get in those offensive meetings and in the rookie puppet’s ear earlier. “Maybe so,” Ryan said.

He is suddenly more Ban-chez (13-17, 154 yards) than Sanchez, throwing only eight times to his wide receivers and completing six of them for 75 yards. He would have had a touchdown pass if tight end Dustin Keller hadn’t coughed it up trying to reach in from the 1, but the best development was only one interception, on a slant for Braylon Edwards.

“Did [Panthers defensive back Chris Gamble] make a good play? Sure,” Sanchez said. “Could I have put the ball out in front of Braylon? Absolutely. That’s a situation there where we just can’t let that happen.”

The Jets’ puppet quarterback is being taught, finally, to minimize risk. Be a smart, calculated quarterback.

“It’s almost turned into, when Rex tells me, I try and convey it to the guys, to reaffirm it again to myself,” Sanchez said.

Call it the greening of a quarterback.

“We’re talking through situations and when we need points and . . . it’s OK to take a sack,” Sanchez said. “As crazy as that sounds, it’s OK. Let’s just not give it to the other team, let’s play smart, and let our defense play and they did a heckuva job.”

Several times, better-safe-than-sorry Sanchez pulled the ball down rather than forcing a throw over the middle to Keller or taking one of his ill-advised chances.

“You see what happens when I play smart,” Sanchez said. “You can’t make chicken soup out of . . . chicken dung.”

There are no plays on the color-coded wristband.

“It’s just a mindset,” Sanchez said. “Basically, it’s a thing between me and Rex and Schotty. I don’t know how else to explain it — there’s color codes, there’s words associated with it. I mean, I can’t say the whole thing because other teams might be looking to see what we’re trying to do but . . . just know that the code works. Almost like telepathy between the three of us.”

“He was smart, and he played true to it, and I thought he really had a helluva game,” Ryan said.

Never mind that the color code will require much more green against the elite quarterbacks and defenses.

“Sometimes I may hamstring him a little bit, but Schotty does a great job calling plays,” Ryan said.

A hush fell over Giants Stadium when the puppet quarterback was tackled from behind by Richard Marshall and did not immediately get up, holding his left knee, by the Jets sideline. He left with 6:10 left in the third, but came back just before the end of the quarter..

“Get up kid, just breathe, you’re gonna be fine,” Ryan recalled thinking. “ ‘Cause it never looked like a big hit. Obviously, you got Sanchise sitting right there, it’s not a good feeling.”

The medical team examined Sanchez on a cart behind the bench and soon, after backup Kellen Clemens relieved him for one incompletion and three offensive plays, he was tossing the ball on the sidelines.

“Once we saw him throwing the ball, I said, ‘Hey, he’s cool.’ That was a sigh of relief there,” receiver Jerricho Cotchery said.

And color him tough.

Bring back Chad? Not bad

The Jets need to sign a veteran quarterback as insurance for quarterback Mark Sanchez next season.

Chad Pennington, anyone?

If Pennington’s wounded arm defies the odds once again, if there is no one knocking down his door to hand him a starting job, if he is willing to accept a backup role, he would be the perfect guy. Sanchez would be afforded a birdseye view of how a professional goes about his business.

Pennington likely will be the odd man out in Miami, which is hoping that Chad Henne will be the starter for the next decade, and is backed up by rookie second-round pick Pat White. Sanchez backup Kellen Clemens, who never won over Rex Ryan, is an unrestricted free agent if a collective bargaining agreement is reached.

Pennington loved being a Jet, and was stung when he was shoved out the door for Brett Favre. But Woody Johnson and Mike Tannenbaum had high regard for him. So did everyone else.

NFL’s head games

Now comes word, from Fox NFL Insider Jay Glazer, that league commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to issue a memo to all 32 teams that will outline a stricter league policy regarding in-game concussions: “Right now, if a player is knocked out during a game he can’t go back in. The league wants to expand that. If a player shows signs of head trauma or a concussion, is woozy or has memory loss he would be required to be removed from the game.”

Better late than never, and Jets players are all for it.

Safety Eric Smith, for instance, suffered a concussion following a violent hit in the end zone last season on Anquan Boldin. Smith was suspended one game.

“Then I had two more concussions after that,” Smith said. He returned following the suspension against Oakland. “I may have got one then,” Smith said. He played the next week against the Chiefs. “I may have got one then,” Smith said. He was shut down for the final six games.

“It’s all about player safety at the end of the day,” veteran tackle Damien Woody said. “I think the league has an obligation to really look after its product on the field and make sure guys are not only productive and safe on the field, but even when they leave the game, that they can live productive lives after they finish the game of football.”