Chris Harris gets first chance to fix crumbling Jets’ defense against Saints

NEW ORLEANS — Chris Harris, you’re up.

The Jets made a big move this week, firing defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and replacing him with Harris, who had been their defensive backs coach.

Harris’ job now is to stop the bleeding in a unit that has allowed 82 points in the past two weeks.

“I’m a former player, so you know, I can talk to the guys,” Harris said. “I understand how they think. So, it’s all about preparing, and we want to play with grit, we want to play with toughness, and those are things we want to try and put on display while we are out there.”

Chris Harris addresses reporters during a Dec. 18 press conference. Bill Kostroun for the NY Post

Harris’ stint as interim coordinator begins Sunday against the 4-10 Saints, who have won two games in a row.

Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough has played well enough to beat the Buccaneers and Panthers, the two teams atop the NFC South.

“Obviously, they’ve been doing a pretty good job the last two weeks,” Jets coach Aaron Glenn said. “This quarterback is really showing things that we saw on tape. They think that he can be a pretty good quarterback.”

The 3-11 Jets come into this game starting a rookie quarterback of their own — undrafted free agent Brady Cook will make his second start.

The Jets could help out Cook by creating some turnovers, something they have failed to do all year.

They enter the game with no interceptions, an NFL record for the most games to start a season without one. They are one game away from setting the overall record for an interception drought.

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Tyler Shough runs with the ball during the Saints’ Dec. 14 win. Getty Images

Harris intercepted Peyton Manning in Super Bowl XLI as a member of the 2006 Bears.

Maybe he can flip their interception luck.

There is only so much Harris can do to change the defense this deep into the season, but Glenn wants to see improvement after the unit got embarrassed last week by Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence (six total touchdowns).

“I thought we did a better job of stopping the run last week when it comes to the running backs, I want to see us really hone in on that,” Glenn said. “And then I want to see us, when it comes to coverage, really tighten the coverage up for the most part, really understand our landmarks, really understand how to match these routes up, you know, to make sure that we don’t give them anything easy for the most part. So, looking forward to seeing that. Looking forward to see how these guys respond from these two back-to-back performances that weren’t really up to standard, and the players are not happy with it, and you can tell they’re not and they should be.

“So, I’m looking forward to seeing how they respond to that.”