Robert Saleh’s era with the Jets came to a quick and surprising end on Tuesday morning.

Owner Woody Johnson fired Saleh, five games into his fourth year as head coach, just before 10 a.m., two days after the Jets lost 23-17 to the Vikings in London, their second straight disappointing loss.

The Jets named defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich as interim coach.

The move was surprising because of its timing.

The Jets are 2-3 and have had encouraging wins against the Titans and Patriots this season.

But Saleh, who had one year left on his contract, couldn’t overcome a 20-36 overall record and Johnson’s feeling that he couldn’t fix the problem with the Jets, who entered this season with Super Bowl aspirations.

“When I look at this team, I’ve been doing this for 25 years now, and this is probably the best team I’ve had in 25 years,” Johnson said in a conference call Tuesday afternoon with reporters. “And I just felt like the best way forward was a new direction. I thought it would bring out the best in this team and give us the best chance we all want, which is to go to the playoffs.”

This is the first time Johnson has made a midseason coaching change as owner.

Sources said Johnson, 77, was fuming after the Jets’ 10-9 loss to the Broncos last week.

He wanted Saleh to make radical changes.

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Saleh instead preached patience, but Johnson wasn’t there.

Then the jets failed in London, where Johnson served as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom under former President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021.

Johnson had a long flight home to consider the team’s future and decided to fire Saleh on Tuesday morning.

Saleh showed up to work and prepared a game plan for the Bills, the Jets’ opponent on Monday night.

Shortly before 10 a.m., Johnson and his brother Christopher Saleh entered Saleh’s office and delivered the news. Saleh wanted to say goodbye to the team, but didn’t get the chance.

He was asked to leave the building.

Johnson said this decision was made not based on the last two losses, but on Saleh’s body of work.

“It’s not just the last two games that brought about this decision. It’s a longer time frame,” Johnson said. “I’ve had a few years to think about it. And yeah, I just think we can do better. The team can do better. If the team realizes what an opportunity this is for them, I think they will reach a level we haven’t seen in a long time.”

Johnson brought Saleh back after a second straight 7-10 season last year with the understanding that he would be out if the team failed this year.

However, Saleh expected to have a full season to advance to the playoffs against Aaron Rodgers and only played five games.

Sources said Johnson was tired of seeing the same problems with the team that had plagued them in recent years – slow starts, a high number of penalties and sloppy offensive play.

The Jets expected things to change with Rodgers at quarterback, but they still lose with the same formula where the defense holds down an opponent and then offensive mistakes cost them games.

The Jets did not fire offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, but sources said Saleh was preparing to take play calls from him and hand them over to Todd Downing, the team’s passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach, before he was fired.

Ulbrich said he would look at the offensive issues “in depth” and indicated he would consider bringing in a new play caller.

He said he doesn’t expect any personnel changes.

“I think one of the reasons I decided to change coaches is exactly this: We have to find ways to win,” Johnson said. “And so we’re not going to find those ways by doing the same thing over and over again. I think Jeff will add something. He will add a spark of positivity. The changes we need to make on offense, we will make. We will try to get better. This is a new opportunity for all of us.”

Johnson said that while he spoke with Rodgers on Monday night, they did not discuss Saleh’s future.

There was no indication from any source that Rodgers was involved in the decision.

Players privately expressed shock at the decision to sack Saleh. He was popular in the locker room and the players still played hard for him.

Johnson said he consulted general manager Joe Douglas, but stressed that it was his decision alone. This is the first coaching change for the Jets in a season since 1976, when Lou Holtz left with one game remaining.

“I have enough experience with these things,” Johnson said. “It’s the first time I’ve done it so early. I thought and think that this will help this talented team achieve the goals that the team wants and that I want and the fans want.”