Johnson owns up to trio of costly drops in defeat

The Jets set the tone for their afternoon Sunday when their offense went three-and-out on their first three drives.

Ty Johnson had a hand — not a soft one — in making that the case.

The Jets’ running back dropped a catch on each of the first three drives, making any momentum even harder to come by for the offense early in a 30-9 loss to the Saints at MetLife Stadium.

“They hit my hands, I dropped them. What else is there to say?” Johnson said. “I can make those catches and I believe in myself to make those catches. But I just didn’t get my eyes to the ball and look it all the way in. I told Zach [Wilson] that was completely on me . ... If it touches my hands, I need to bring them in. Simple as that.”

The Jets entered the day without Michael Carter (ankle, injured reserve) and Tevin Coleman (concussion), then found out shortly before the game that Austin Walter would be unavailable because of a non-COVID illness.

That left Johnson and La’Mical Perine as the only healthy running backs on the active roster.

Johnson drew his third start of the season and began the game with a 3-yard run before committing his first drop on second down. One incompletion later, the Jets punted.

On the next drive, the Jets faced a third-and-2 when Wilson targeted Johnson, only for him to drop the easy catch that would have picked up a first down. Johnson then dropped another short pass from Wilson on the Jets’ third drive.

“I was definitely like, ‘Damn,’ because I know I can catch them,” Johnson said. “I put accountability on myself really high. … I was definitely like, ‘Damn, I’m cooking them [defenders] for sure.’ I just gotta bring them in.”

Johnson went on to catch the four targets that came his way the rest of the day, for 40 yards, while adding six carries for 17 yards.

Perine, the second-year back who had gotten just seven offensive snaps this season while more often racking up inactives, took seven carries for 28 yards on another quiet day for the Jets’ offense.

“We can’t shoot ourselves in the foot,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to complete passes, sustain drives. Three of those were on me. I take 100 percent accountability for them.”