The challenge of dealing with Aaron Donald and the No. 1-ranked defense in the NFL has received a deserved amount of attention this week, but the winless Jets can expect to have their hands full against the Los Angeles Rams on the other side of the ball, too.

After getting torched for 174 rushing yards and 40 points in last week’s walkover loss to Seattle, the Jets’ depleted defense is preparing to face a balanced Sean McVay offense, which ranks fifth in the league in yards per game (eighth in rushing and 12th in passing).

Rookie running back Cam Akers posted a career-best 171 rushing yards in a 24-3 Week 14 win over the Patriots.

“There are a lot of challenges. They’re a really good football team that is not too far removed from a Super Bowl. We’re not quite where they are right now, and we have to figure out how to slow them down,” Jets interim defensive coordinator Frank Bush said after practice Thursday in Florham Park. “Considering what happened in the running game last week [against Seattle], I’m sure they’re licking their chops a little bit, so it’s going to be a challenge for us, and our guys have to step up.”

Bush admitted the Seahawks’ running game, “didn’t get us a little, they got us a lot” last week in his first game as fired Gregg Williams’ replacement, including 142 combined rushing yards by Chris Carson (76) and Carlos Hyde (66).

Akers, the Rams’ second-round pick out of Florida State, and second-year back Darrell Henderson have combined for 1,092 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground in a backfield timeshare this season.

In addition to linebacker Jordan Jenkins, who is out for the season with a shoulder injury, the Jets will be without run-stopping defensive lineman Folorunso Fatukasi, who was placed Thursday on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

“I think those guys have been doing a good job,” Jets coach Adam Gase said of the Rams’ young running backs. “Anytime you get a rookie in there that’s having production and doing what [Akers is] doing, especially the last game, I’m sure Sean’s excited to see him really developed in the way that he has.”

While McVay, during the Rams’ 9-4 start,  has leaned more heavily on the rushing attack this season than he did last season, quarterback Jared Goff still has completed 68.2 percent of his passes for 3,509 yards. And receivers Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods have combined for 155 receptions and eight touchdowns.

“I think Sean’s done a good job of putting that group together, coming in there and getting the veterans he needed to get, getting Robert Woods in there, developing the quarterback quickly,” Gase said. “They have a lot of skill guys that they put around him right away.

“He was able to kind of put that thing together in short order. He had some good pieces to start with on defense, and then he was able to add the pieces he needed on offense to kind of finish the vision that he had for what that offense wanted to look like.”

Gase also has been complimentary all week towards the Rams’ defense, which is led by Donald (NFL-high 12.5 sacks) and three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey. But the Jets’ 30th-ranked D will be greatly tested Sunday, as well.

“They have a great scheme and Coach McVay and those guys were in the Super Bowl a couple of years ago,” cornerback Bless Austin said. “You see a very complex offense, they move the ball from hash-to-hash, north-south, doing a lot of misdirection and reverses and things to buy yards. As a defender, it’s a very complex, sophisticated offense.”