Like so many other improvements early in the Jets season, the reason why is simple.
Entering Monday, they owned a 56.8 percent conversion rate on third down — the best in the NFL.
Last year, the Jets were dead last at 26.0 percent.
From worst to best — what’s the explanation?
“Aaron Rodgers,” center Joe Tippmann said on Monday. “He is a guy that is out there communicating, getting us to the right call, right play. He’s breaking down the defense before they’re even showing what they have. For him to be able to do that and get us on the same page, and then he just gets time to work and make something happen and that’s what he’s phenomenal at doing. Credit is to Aaron Rodgers there.”
On third down this season, Rodgers has completed 20 of 27 passes (74.1 percent) for 272 yards and a touchdown along with a stellar 118.1 passer rating.
That completion percentage, yardage and passer rating is his highest for any down.
The Jets have also scored six touchdowns on eight trips to the red zone, good for a 75 percent red-zone percentage — tied for second-best in the league.
They were dead last at 32.4 percent last year, scoring just 12 touchdowns on 37 trips.
The Jets are signing defensive back Jalen Mills to their practice squad, The Post confirmed.
An eight-year pro, he played the past three seasons with the Patriots, starting 34 games — including eight last year.
He spent his first five seasons with the Eagles, who drafted him in the seventh round in 2016.
The Jets blitzed Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett on 40 percent of his dropbacks during their 24-3 win Thursday night — the highest rate against any opposing quarterback under head coach Robert Saleh’s tenure, according to the team.
The Jets cashed in with three sacks off blitzes, while Brissett completed just two passes against the blitz.
“That feels good,” safety Chuck Clark, who had one of those sacks, said Thursday. “You hear it, and it’s, ‘Let’s get home.’ Hopefully everything goes right up front that you can get there, but it definitely feels good.”
The Jets have rarely sent so much pressure under Saleh and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.
Last year, they blitzed just 16.3 percent of dropbacks, the second-least in the NFL.
Through three games this year, though, the Jets have blitzed a combined 21.4 percent of dropbacks — ninth-most in the league.
“We felt if we could generate pressure, get [Brissett] moving off his spot, we could do whatever we wanted in the game,” linebacker Jamien Sherwood said Monday. “Our defensive line, and everybody else that ended up with a sack, they played great. They just didn’t know where it was coming from, and that opened a lot of doors for us as a defense.”
