The Robert Saleh era with the Jets came to a quick and stunning end on Tuesday morning.

Owner Woody Johnson fired Saleh, who was 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 head coach.

The move was surprising because of its timing.

The Jets are 2-3 and have 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 wasn’t fixing what was wrong with the Jets, who started this season with Super Bowl- ambitions.

“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 during a conference call with reporters Tuesday afternoon. “And I just felt that the best way to move forward was in a new direction. I thought this would get the most out of this team and give us the best chance we all want, which is to get to the play-offs.”

This marks the first time Johnson has made a mid-season coaching change as owner.

According to sources, the 77-year-old Johnson was furious after the Jets’ 10-9 loss to the Broncos last week.

He wanted Saleh to make radical changes.

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Saleh preached patience instead, but Johnson was out there.

The Jets then flopped in London, where Johnson served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2017 to 2021 under former President Donald Trump.

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

Saleh showed up for work ready to make plans for the Bills, the Jets’ opponent on Monday night.

Shortly before 10 a.m., Johnson and his brother Christopher walked into Saleh’s office and delivered the news. Saleh wanted to say goodbye to the team, but did not get the chance to do so.

He was asked to leave the building.

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

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

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

However, Saleh expected to get a full season to make a playoff push with Aaron Rodgers, and only got five games.

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

The Jets expected things to change with Rodgers at quarterback, but they are still losing with the same formula of a defense holding an opponent down and then offensive mistakes costing them games.

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

Ulbrich said he will take a “deep dive” into the offensive fray and indicated he will consider hiring a new play-caller.

He did say he doesn’t expect any personnel changes.

“I think one of the reasons I decided to make a coaching change is exactly that: 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 is going to add something. He’s going to add a touch of positivity. We will make the changes we need to make on offense. We’re going to try to get better. This is a new opportunity for all of us.”

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

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

Players privately expressed their shock at the decision to fire 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 Johnson emphasized that this was his decision alone. This is the first mid-season coaching change for the Jets since 1976, when Lou Holtz retired with one game remaining.

“I have plenty of 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, I want and the fans want.