Jets’ line knows it can’t let Aaron Rodgers get exposed again: ‘That wasn’t us’

It’s fitting that the Jets are headed to London to play the Vikings on Sunday, because their No. 1 objective absolutely, positively must be protecting their crown jewel.

Aaron Rodgers, the 40-year-old franchise, was abused by the Denver defense in last Sunday’s 10-9 loss at MetLife Stadium.

There were several disturbing moments late in that loss when Rodgers had to peel himself off the stadium turf after being hit and looked like he might have been done for the day or — heaven forbid — longer.

After the scene that unfolded four plays into last season on that very same Meadowlands carpet, Rodgers rupturing his left Achilles, every time he gets up slowly after a hit it triggers terrifying PTSD memories.

Rodgers isn’t scheduled to speak to reporters until Friday, but Tuesday, in his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Rodgers acknowledged having knee soreness from the 15 hits he took by Broncos defenders, which included five sacks.

The mugging Rodgers endured is something that has weighed heavily on minds of the Jets offensive linemen all week before the team departed for England on Thursday afternoon.

“Right after the [Broncos] game, we were telling him, ‘Hey, that wasn’t us. You know we got your back. We’re gonna do what we can to fix it and make it not happen again,’ ” center Joe Tippmann told The Post. “We know we’ve got to be better, and it starts up front with us. That’s an emphasis this week — being able to pass off these pressures, be able to take them on, keep [Rodgers] upright and let him go to work back there.”

This is the 2-2 Jets’ only path to survival against the 4-0 Vikings.

If they thought the Broncos defense was aggressive with its blitzing and its pass rushing games up front, the Vikings’ scheme may make Denver’s look like a preseason game by comparison.

Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores has an affinity for blitzing the way Rodgers has an affinity for ayahuasca.

Flores’ defense led the NFL in blitz rate at 50.7 percent in 2023. Through the first three games this season, he called the most blitzes (50) on drop-backs of any defense. The Vikings defense leads the NFL with 17 sacks and is second in takeaways with 10. They have 37 quarterback hits in four games, an average of nearly 10 per game.

As the Dolphins head coach from 2019-21, Flores guided defenses that were first in blitz rate in 2021 and second in 2020.

You get the picture: The Vikings are going to come after Rodgers and his sore knees.

“The scheme, man,” befuddled 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy said after a 23-17 loss to the Vikings in Week 2, “it’s crazy.”

The following week, Flores’ defense routed the Texans and their top-tier quarterback, C.J. Stroud, 34-7. Last week, the Vikings were up 28-0 at Green Bay before the first half was complete.

The NFL, as you may have heard, is a copycat league. When something works for one team against another, that team should expect another dose of it from its next opponent.

Because of the way the Broncos blitzing front flummoxed the Jets offensive line last Sunday, the Jets expect more of it Sunday, particularly given the opponent.

“We were expecting a lot of pressure, but they brought it just about as much as they could,” Tippmann said of the Broncos.

“They just brought a little more than we probably anticipated,” left guard John Simpson said.

“Denver probably had a different game plan for us than others,” right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker said. “Overall, [Flores] does a good job at bringing guys up and dropping people back. For us, [Denver] was a game we were disappointed in ourselves. We all know that we can be better and need to be more locked in with it and keeping Aaron upright. That’s something we definitely discussed as an O-line and everybody else involved in the past projection.”

Simpson said of the Vikings, “I’m sure they’re going to throw things that we haven’t seen yet, but it’s just building off of those things and getting better at the things that we do see.”

Tippmann said he expects more pressure from Flores, “especially after how we handled it last week,” adding, “We’re preparing for it on every play.”

It’s the Jets’ only path to survival: Protect the crown jewel wearing the No. 8 jersey.