The New York Jets fired coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday as the team started the season 2-3, owner Woody Johnson announced.

The interim coach will be defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.

“This morning I informed Robert Saleh that he will no longer serve as head coach of the Jets. I thanked him for his hard work over the last three and a half years and wished him and his family all the best for the future. This.” “It was not an easy decision, but we are not yet where our expectations should be and I believe now is the best time for us to move in a different direction,” Johnson said in a statement .

“Jeff Ulbrich will be our interim head coach for the remainder of the season. He is a tough coach who has the respect of the coaches and players on this team. I believe that together with the coaches of this team he can get the best out of him. We will strengthen our talented team and achieve the goals we set for ourselves this offseason.

Saleh, signed by the Jets in 2021, had a 20-36 record as the team's head coach.

Saleh's firing marks the first time in Johnson's 25-year tenure that he has fired a coach midseason. After a 7-10 finish last season, Johnson admitted he was angry about the result and raised the stakes for Saleh by demanding significant improvement.

According to ESPN Research, Saleh is the third NFL coach to be fired following a game loss in London. The Raiders fired coach Dennis Allen in 2014, a day after losing 38-14 to the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium, while the Dolphins fired coach Joe Philbin in 2015, a day after losing 27-14 to the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium Jets had lost. Saleh's firing comes two days after the Jets' 23-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Saleh's firing comes a day after he said he was confident the Jets could turn things around after losing two straight games.

“There is so much football to play,” Saleh said Monday. “There are so many things we can get better at and there are so many things we can continue to build on, the things we do well.”

“So I'm not panicking. No one in the building is panicking.”

The Jets entered the 2024 season with high expectations. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers returned after just four games from an Achilles tendon injury that wiped out his 2023 season, but they struggled on offense.

There have been questions about Saleh's relationship with the 40-year-old Rodgers, but both have denied any friction, as recently as last week in London, when the quarterback said “there is a driving force that is trying to create a wedge between the two.”

“We’re really good friends,” Rodgers said. “We enjoy each other. We spend time in his office almost every day, talking about things and talking about the energy of the team, the focus of the team and what we need to get done, how I can help him, how he can help. “I'm out. So we have a great relationship.

The Jets started six different quarterbacks in Saleh's four seasons: Zach Wilson (33 games), Mike White (7), Rodgers (6), Joe Flacco (5), Trevor Siemian (3) and Tim Boyle (2).

Saleh's tenure was marked by strong defense and poor offense, largely due to instability at quarterback. In his first season, the Jets selected Wilson second overall, but he struggled greatly and was ultimately benched last season and replaced by Rodgers, who tore his Achilles tendon on the fourth snap of the season.

Rich Cimini of ESPN and The Associated Press contributed to this report.