Sauce Gardner has already made his case as perhaps the best defensive rookie in the NFL in just six games.

The fourth-overall pick has been shutting down receivers and putting up ridiculous coverage numbers. He allowed one catch Sunday in Green Bay when Aaron Rodgers threw his way six times. Pro Football Focus tweeted these impressive stats: In single coverage this season, Gardner has allowed four catches on 17 targets and forced seven incompletions. He has a 19.5 passer rating allowed.

“He’s a special talent,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said Wednesday. “The talent — I think ‘Sherm’ [Richard Sherman] sent me a little clip of him on a double-move comeback, just the on-the-field-camera angle when I was on the bus, I was like, ‘Damn.’ It was a really, really impressive play, especially for a guy his size. He is a special talent. What’s great about him is that he is just absorbing so much information, and he knows he has a long way to go, and he knows he has a ways to get better, and he’s relentless in his pursuit to get better. We got a good one, and he will continue to get better.”

Gardner has a unique personality. He has plenty of swagger but does not come across as cocky. His cheesehead celebration Sunday could have been seen as disrespectful, but wasn’t.

“Some guys have this uncanny ability to be a bunch of smack-talkers and you smile and kind of laugh at it because it’s almost enjoyable,” Saleh said. “He doesn’t rub people the wrong way with his talking, it’s almost like it’s an art. He does all his talking, his personality and he’s an extravert and all that stuff, but it’s such good natured and it’s meant with such good heart that I don’t think people ever take it personally.”

Third-year WR Denzel Mims has been inactive for all six games this season. Saleh was asked what he has to do to get on the field.

“From a professional standpoint, he’s got to come in every day and do his job, that’s all of us,” Saleh said. “It is hard in his shoes, but right now the other guys are playing good football, you can only dress five [receivers] and there’s a special teams value and all that stuff like we’ve talked about. The reason why Denzel is here is because we still have a lot of faith in him, and he needs to continue working and be ready when his number is called.”

Rookie DE Jermaine Johnson (ankle) did not practice and Saleh said he is not expected to play this week. Safety Ashtyn Davis (hamstring), OT Duane Brown (shoulder), WR Braxton Berrios (back) and LB Quincy Williams (ankle) were all limited in practice.