Jets’ Jeff Ulbrich leaves door open to giving up defense playcalling

Jeff Ulbrich certainly left the door open.

He led one of the best units in the league as defensive coordinator, but it has fallen off a cliff since he was promoted to interim head coach.

For the past six weeks, Ulbrich has continued his duties organizing the defense throughout the week and calling plays during games while also taking on much larger head-coaching responsibilities.

It has failed dramatically, sinking the only area of team strength as the Jets have become more poorly coached as a whole.

As the team enters its bye with a 3-8 record, would he consider giving up defensive play-calling to reignite the unit and help him focus on his larger role?

“Not as of today,” Ulbrich said Monday. “But the next couple of days, we’ll definitely assess everything.”

With Robert Saleh at head coach and Ulbrich just running the defense, the Jets allowed 17 points per game through the first five weeks — tied for fifth-best in the NFL. But since the firing of Saleh and Ulbrich’s promotion six weeks ago, the Jets have given up 26.2 points per game — 24th in the league.

Instead of sparking the whole team, the change of Ulbrich to head coach has stretched him too thin and weakened what was the Jets’ identity.

“It’s extremely hard to see the unit not perform as well as they’re capable of performing,” Ulbrich said. “That’s on me and our staff, and on every defensive player in there to regain the standard that we’ve created here in the last couple of years because we’re not playing as well as we need to play and we’re not playing as well as we’re capable of playing. Part of that will be this week and getting back on track.”

If Ulbrich does decide to give up defensive play-calling, two options the Jets could turn to are senior defensive assistant and cornerbacks coach Tony Oden and defensive backs and safeties coach Marquand Manuel.

Both are in their fourth year with the team after being hired as part of Saleh’s original staff.

“I have noticed [the drop-off],” cornerback D.J. Reed said Sunday after the game. “The last couple of games, we haven’t played to our standard on defense. We’ve given up touchdowns, we’ve given up explosive plays. I can’t really account to what it is.

“Coach Ulbrich does have a lot on his plate, but he’s a grown man and he can handle it. I just think it comes down to executing and playing our role.”

During Sunday’s 28-27 loss to the Colts at MetLife Stadium, Anders Carlson kicked a 35-yard field goal to extend the Jets lead to 27-22 with 2:41 left in the game.

Facing a fourth-and-2 from the Colts 17-yard line, Ulbrich said after the game that he trusted his defense to get a stop, with the Colts needing to score a touchdown to win, in explaining why he opted for a field goal rather than going for it.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers said that he wanted to go for it on fourth down, but that he trusted Ulbrich’s decision.

That decision backfired miserably, as the Colts drove 70 yards right through the Jets defense on just six plays, with quarterback Anthony Richardson rushing for a 4-yard touchdown to give the Colts their 28-27 lead with less than a minute left in the game.

Players have pointed to a lack of fundamentals that has been apparent in recent weeks.

“It’s definitely tough watching, knowing we can be better, and then watching it back and seeing it on film,” safety Chuck Clark said Monday. “Just knowing that we can be better than what we’re putting out there, honestly. It’s Day 1 details that we’re messing up. We gotta lock in on stuff, honestly.”