Jets' Sauce Gardner may be tasked with slowing down Browns' Amari Cooper

CLEVELAND — Sauce Gardner has zero interceptions in 2023, but his dominance cannot be measured by that one stat.

Teams are reluctant to throw the ball Gardner’s way. The All-Pro cornerback has only been targeted 48 times. That’s the fewest in the NFL among cornerbacks with at least 500 coverage snaps. Gardner is only in his second season, and he’s already garnered that kind of reputation.

“He’s doing a really nice job,” Robert Saleh said. “He’ll be the first to say that when they throw the ball his way — when they do — he’s got to go take it. The challenge for him is going to be to stay locked in — and he is. I’ll make sure I say this, because the way he approaches practice, games and all that stuff, meetings, he’s very deliberate.

“He’s very locked in. He’s very focused and I kind of compare it to ‘Sherm’ — when I coached Richard Sherman — you can get bored out there, when teams are just deliberately trying to avoid you. So, he’s locked down that left side of the field and he’s earned that right.”

The Jets, for the most part, don’t allow their cornerbacks to travel with receivers. They have good ones in Gardner on the left, D.J. Reed on the right and underrated nickelback Michael Carter II.

But when the Jets (6-9) face the Browns (10-5) on Thursday night — in their next-to-last game of the season — they may consider letting Gardner stick with Amari Cooper. He has been torching defenders lately.

Cooper has quickly developed chemistry with ex-Jets quarterback Joe Flacco with Cleveland, which will clinch a playoff berth with a win. Flacco has played four games and led the Browns to three straight wins. Cooper has 22 catches for 451 yards and three touchdowns in those three games. He had 11 grabs for 265 yards and two scores against Houston.

Sounds like a job for Sauce.

“We have done that,” Saleh said. “There is going be opportunities. It’s not a stubbornness, it’s a whole philosophy and a whole global thinking with regards to all 11, but when we can, we have shown that we will.”

Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said the Jets do it in “critical moments.” The philosophy is they want all of their defensive backs to “to master the field and understand where the routes are coming from and from what location.”

The Jets are the No. 2 passing defense in the NFL, allowing just 168.6 yards per game. The only team that is better is Cleveland (160.1).

Gardner and the Jets will have their hands full against this Cleveland offense that has taken it to another level with Flacco. The Jets’ 33-game streak of not allowing a quarterback to pass for 300 yards — the longest active one in the NFL — will be tested as well.

The Browns lead the NFL in passing yards over their last three games (339.7) and touchdowns thrown (8). In that time, Cooper has the most receiving yards and is second in touchdown receptions. Browns tight end David Njoku is first with four.

By contrast, the Jets have the NFL’s worst offense and they’re facing the NFL’s No. 1 defense so this could be ugly. How the Jets deploy Gardner and whether the Browns decide to challenge him is one of the more intriguing aspects of this game.

Gardner has been targeted just 13 times and allowed five catches over his last five games, according to Pro Football Focus. He’s given up one catch for every 32 coverage snaps. Gardner thinks it’s a sign of respect from teams.

“I guess you could say that,” Gardner said. “I don’t know what’s going through their heads when they target me or don’t target me. I wouldn’t know.”

What Gardner knows is he’s not satisfied. He wants more picks, more wins and more accolades. It’s “pretty important” for him to make the Pro Bowl and be an All-Pro again, but the biggest thing is he wants to keep improving. If he does, teams may never throw at him.

“I want to make every single year better than the last one,” Gardner said. “I want to always be trending upward because I’m like a perfectionist. That could be bad sometimes because I’m my biggest critic. But the standard is the standard.”

Notes: The Jets signed kicker Austin Seibert to the practice squad as insurance for Greg Zuerlein. Seibert could be elevated for Thursday’s game if Zuerlein, who is questionable with right quad soreness, can’t play.

Offensive tackle Duane Brown (back) was put on injured reserve. His season, and perhaps his career, is over. Brown is 38 and only appeared in five games this season.

The Jets also signed rookie tight end Zack Kuntz to the active roster with Jeremy Ruckert (concussion) out. Kuntz, a seventh-round pick, has been on the practice squad all season.

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.