Adam Saleh doesn’t play for the Jets.
He doesn’t coach the Jets, either.
His dad, Robert, does that.
But some Jets players, in the euphoric aftermath of Sunday’s scintillating 20-14 comeback victory over the Eagles at a delirious MetLife Stadium, credited Saleh’s son for unwittingly providing them with inspiration thanks to a story Saleh related to them on Saturday night.
“Coach Saleh had us really fired up [Saturday] night,’’ guard Laken Tomlinson told The Post. “He shared a personal story with us, and the passion that he had fired us up. We knew we were going come out swinging. And we kept on swinging.’’
Safety Tony Adams, an undrafted gem unearthed last season, took the biggest swing of all when he picked off Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and returned it 45 yards to the Philadelphia 8-yard line with 1:50 remaining and the Jets trailing 14-12. The play set up the game-winning touchdown, a scoring run by Breece Hall.
“Coach Saleh said something really important and it triggered something in me and all of us,’’ Adams told The Post. “He said, ‘You are who you think you are, and go out there and show the world who you think you are.’ He was talking about his son, Adam. Adam had a football game, and the team Adam played, I think it was Florham Park, they kicked Adam’s team’s butt last year.
“Coach Saleh said they were just more physical, and he said Adam was pissed about it. And they played that team again [recently], and he got a call from his wife [Sanaa], who was like, ‘Adam balled down, he had two interceptions and two touchdowns.’ Coach Saleh then said his son inspired him to come up to us and say, ‘You are who you think you are.’
“So,’’ Adams added, “shout out to Adam.’’
What the Jets’ defense did to an Eagles offense that’s loaded from Hurts to his skill-position stars through the offensive line was downright inspiring, forcing four turnovers and refusing to lose despite the offense’s repeated failure to capitalize in the red zone.
Hurts was merely the latest in a string of the best quarterbacks in the league the Jets have played through just six games this season. The season began with Buffalo’s Josh Allen and included Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes and on Sunday Hurts, a Super Bowl runner-up.
“Through these first six weeks, we have played a gauntlet of quarterbacks,’’ Saleh said. “I know we haven’t won them all, but we’ve embarrassed all of them.’’
The Jets’ defense picked Allen off three times in a season-opening comeback win, picked off Mahomes twice in a nail-biter loss and got Hurts three times Sunday. Eight interceptions against the three of best quarterbacks in the league.
The last one — Adams’ pick — was the best of all, because of how beautifully the play was called from the sideline, communicated on the field before Hurts took the snap and executed by Adams, who bamboozled the Eagles’ quarterback.
“I just did my job, I did what my coaches told me to do,’’ Adams would say modestly afterward. “[The coaches] told me to show in the B gap like I was coming (rushing), because that’s what we were doing most of the game. We were blitzing a lot. And [defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich] said, ‘Pop out of there and [Hurts] is going to throw it right to you.’ ’’
And he did.
“I don’t think I made the correct read on it, but it happens,’’ Hurts said.
“I definitely thought I was going to score [on the return], but it worked out how it was supposed to work out,” Adams said. “I just did what my coaches said. I didn’t do nothing special.’’
Wrong.
“It was a great disguise in coverage,’’ linebacker C.J. Mosley said. “Great call from Brick [Ulbrich] and great execution. That’s usually what happens when you do things the right way. And we got rewarded.’’
The reward for the Jets is a 3-3 record entering their bye next week, which is a massive accomplishment considering that, when they lost Aaron Rodgers five minutes into his debut on opening night, the Jets were left for dead.
Thanks to a defense that refuses to let this season die, the Jets are very much alive.
Adams kept going back to the power of Saturday night and what Saleh had to say about his son’s experience as well as some other moving messaging from others on the team.
“Brick told us, ‘You’re either a fighter or you’re a victim.’ ’’ Adams said. “We’re fighters. And we showed it today against a great Super Bowl-contending team.’’
No argument there.
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