One day after Mike White’s ribs were battered by a ferocious pass rush, the Jets quarterback survived his next hit. 

“I picked my kids up out of their cribs this morning, played with them for a little bit, they tackled me and I felt fine,” White joked Monday, in his first comments since the Jets lost 20-12 to the Bills. “So, I feel good.” 

White left the game twice for seven total snaps but returned both times. He was not in the postgame locker room with teammates because he received a CT scan at a Buffalo area hospital — on top of in-game X-rays — to rule out any internal injuries and confirm it was safe for him to fly home, which he did. 

No matter what sized punch White’s 1-year-old twins pack, they aren’t measuring up to what the Lions can offer Sunday, but the early feeling around the Jets is that their starting quarterback will be available for a game rich in playoff implications on both sides. White is day-to-day, according to head coach Robert Saleh, who declined to share a specific diagnosis. 

“I’m going to prepare as such,” White said. “I feel like I can play, and I feel like I’m ready to roll.” 

Saleh confirmed the Jets are “proceeding as if he’s going to be a full participant [in practice] and play in the game on Sunday.” White is “waiting to hear more” on possible further testing and will “cross the other bridges” at that time. 

“That’s something seriously tough to play through,” defensive end Carl Lawson said. “I’ve heard just a misplaced rib is excruciatingly painful. That’s just a testament to how tough he is — if he does have that type of injury — to continue to play.” 

If White is going to play through pain — he has experience wearing a protective flak jacket under his uniform — the spotlight on the Jets’ No. 2 quarterback decision will intensify. Saleh sounded as if he is mulling promoting benched starter Zach Wilson from inactive third-stringer — his role the last three games — over veteran Joe Flacco, who lost a fumble on a strip-sack against the Bills. 

“Zach is ready for everything,” said Saleh, who deferred the decision until Wednesday, after meeting with the offensive coaching staff. “Zach is fine. He has been working hard for the last couple of weeks. He’s in a great mental headspace.” 

The Bills tallied seven quarterback hits, including three sacks, on White. He completed 27 of 44 passes for 268 yards with no touchdowns or turnovers in his third start, after sitting the first 10 games behind Wilson or Flacco or both. 

“That’s football,” White said. “It’s the part that you don’t miss during [the moment] because it hurts, but there is a part of it that you do miss because you want to prove to your guys that ‘I’m willing to hang in there and take the hits necessary to move the ball down the field.’ And show them that you are willing to lay it all out there for them.” 

White’s second absence came after it looked like he might snap in half when hard-sprinting linebacker Matt Milano lowered his head and collided with White’s vulnerable ribs just as the quarterback uncorked a throw. No penalty flag was thrown. 

“The second one looks how it felt,” White said. “It was a clean hit. He got me good.” 

Even as White jogged to the locker room, his mind was set on trying to lead a comeback win. 

“At first, when I was on the ground, I couldn’t catch my breath, and that was the hardest part,” White said. “I knew if everything was fine [on X-ray], I was going in. You would’ve had to peel me off that field. It was never in my mind that, ‘I’m not finishing the game.’ ” 

White threw four straight incompletions on the final possession, when the Jets had 46 seconds and one timeout to drive 79 yards for a chance to tie. Refusing to use his pain as an excuse, he rued a missed opportunity on third-and-10. 

“I think I could’ve maybe extended the play a tad longer and taken a second quick hitch and given [Garrett Wilson] more time to get to that area,” White said. “I just maybe got a little spooked by the edge pressure on the right. I think I could’ve maybe figured a way to let the play develop a little longer.”