Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich takes “100 percent” of the blame for the Jets’ unpreparedness

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Jeff Ulbrich is an extremely noble and responsible person.

The Jets’ interim coach not only fell on the sword over his team’s putrid performance minutes after his team was slaughtered by the Cardinals 31-6 at State Farm Stadium on Sunday, he also jumped from a diving board to the sharp end.

Ulbrich said the team was unprepared Sunday after coming off a nine-day break since its last game (a home win against the Texans on Oct. 31).

“We didn’t come close to our standard, and that’s 100 percent on my shoulders,” Ulbrich said. “I didn’t prepare the boys well enough. I thought the physicality and effort was fine. That wasn’t the problem. “It was execution, in all three phases.”

The Jets defense was a big offender in the game.

The Cardinals scored on each of their first five offensive possessions.

Their quarterback, Kyler Murray, finished 22 of 24 for 266 yards with one touchdown pass and two rushing touchdowns, completing the last 17 passes he threw.

The Jets’ tackling was abysmal.

According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, they missed 20 tackles in the game.

They couldn’t cover anyone on the back end.

The Cardinals recorded 18 first downs in the first half and finished the game with 28.

They converted 5 of 7 third downs (71.4 percent) and the one fourth down they went for.

What the… what is there?

“It comes down to our basic fundamentals, and obviously I did a poor job of preparing us for this team in that way — tackling, edge setting, clearing blocks,” Ulbrich said. “I have to continue to try to find ways to put them in a better position to succeed.”

There really are no turning points in a loss like this, but a pivotal moment in the first half occurred when Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner, whose tackling has been tested lately this season, failed to clear the Arizona Tight end Trey McBride beat one-shot completion on third-and-7 in the second quarter.

McBride threw Gardner like a bull throwing a rider off his back, turning a failed third-down conversion into a 17-yard gain to keep a drive alive that ended with a third-down touchdown and a lead of 21-6 would end.

“I have to make that tackle,” Gardner said. “It starts with me. I have to get better.”

Gardner was hardly the only culprit.

“We have to do it,” Ulbrich said of the tackle. “We have to get better at it. I thought we put a big focus on that this week [in practice]. We have to continue to go the extra step, we have to finish, we have to get the population on the ball… the core foundation of this game from a defensive perspective.”

Edge rusher Haason Reddick defended Ulbrich after the game when he was told he had taken the blame for his players’ inadequacies.

“Brick is doing the honorable thing,” Reddick told The Post. “He does what any coach would do, but it’s also about the players. At the end of the day, we are the ones out there on the field. We have the playmakers making plays and that’s what needs to be done.”

“You can’t blame Brick for that. I’m not sure you could transfer any of this to Brick. At the end of the day, we have to be better for him.”