Woody Johnson sensed his struggling New York Jets needed a change — and now.

So the owner made the stunning decision Tuesday to fire coach Robert Saleh just five games into his fourth season after the team’s 2-3 start following a 23-17 loss to Minnesota in London on Sunday.

“This is one of the most talented teams that has ever been assembled by the New York Jets,” Johnson said during a conference call with reporters. “I wanted to give this team the most opportunity to win this season. I feel that we had to go in a different direction and that’s why I did that today.

“This change, the change that we made today — that I made — I believe will bring new energy and positivity that will lead to more wins, starting now.”

Saleh was 20-36 as coach of the Jets, who are trying to snap the NFL’s longest active playoff drought at 13 seasons. The move marks the first time in Johnson’s 25-year tenure that a head coach has been fired during the season.

Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will serve as interim coach for the rest of the season — with the Jets maintaining expectations to make the playoffs.

Patriots will go with first-round draft pick Maye >> The New England Patriots are planning to give first-round draft pick Drake Maye his first pro start in the hopes of ending a four-game losing streak under veteran journeyman quarterback Jacoby Brissett, NFL Network reported Tuesday.

Maye made one previous appearance for New England, coming in at the end of a Week 3 loss to the New York Jets and going 4 for 8 with 22 yards.

Brissett was 79 for 135 with two touchdowns and one interception in five starts this season. He never threw for more than 150 net yards in a game.

The Patriots host the Houston Texans on Sunday.

Hockey

Bill introduced to award 1980 ‘Miracle On Ice’ US hockey team with Congressional Gold Medals >> A bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to award Congressional Gold Medals to the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey team that defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union in Lake Placid, New York, at a period of high tension during the Cold War.

Congressman Pete Stauber, R-Minn., introduced the Miracle on Ice Congressional Gold Medal Act along with co-sponsors Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Mike Quigley, D-Ill., and Bill Keating, D-Mass.

The plan would be for the creation of three medals: one to go on display at the U.S Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minnesota, another at the Lake Placid Olympic Center and the third at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

MLB

Mets take 2-1 series lead >> Pete Alonso launched another homer off Aaron Nola, and Sean Manaea took a two-hit shutout into the eighth inning as the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 on Tuesday in Game 3 of their NL Division Series.

Jesse Winker also went deep and Starling Marte had a pivotal two-run single to help the wild-card Mets, playing their first home game in 16 days, grab a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.

Game 4 is Wednesday at Citi Field, with All-Star Ranger Suárez (12-8, 3.46 ERA) scheduled to start for Philadelphia against fellow lefty Jose Quintana (10-10, 3.75 ERA).

Pitcher Tiant dies at 83 >> Luis Tiant, the charismatic Cuban with a horseshoe mustache and mesmerizing windup who pitched the Red Sox to the brink of a World Series championship and pitched himself to the doorstep of the baseball Hall of Fame, has died. He was 83.

Major League Baseball announced his death in a post on X on Tuesday, and the Red Sox confirmed that he died at his home in Maine.

“El Tiante” was a three-time All-Star and four-time 20-game winner whose greatest individual season came with Cleveland in 1968, when he went 21-9 with 19 complete games and nine shutouts — four of them in a row. His 1.60 ERA was the best in the AL in half a century and he finished fifth in AL Most Valuable Player voting; 31-game winner Denny McLain won it, as well as the league’s Cy Young Award.

MLB will air local games for Guardians, Brewers and Twins >> Major League Baseball announced it will produce and distribute local broadcasts for the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins next year. All three teams had contracts with Diamond Sports Group that expired at the end of the regular season.

The Texas Rangers, whose deal also expired last month, also announced they will no longer be partnering with Diamond and are assessing their options for next season.

The addition of the Guardians, Brewers and Twins means MLB will be handling the production and distribution of at least six teams going into 2025.

MLB took over broadcasts of the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2023 season and the Colorado Rockies this year.

Soccer

Former US coach Berhalter hired as coach of the Chicago Fire >> The Chicago Fire have hired former U.S. national team coach Gregg Berhalter to be the club’s new head coach and director of football.

Berhalter was dismissed as U.S. coach in July, shortly after the team was eliminated in the group stage of the Copa America. It was his second stint with the national team.

He replaces current Fire coach Frank Klopas, who will step down after the team’s final regular-season game on Oct. 19 to assume a new role as the team’s vice president of football.