INDIANAPOLIS — The Jets’ quest to help Zach Wilson this offseason won’t just be about surrounding him with weapons. It will also be about stopping the other team’s weapons.

Jets coach Robert Saleh said Wednesday that improving the team’s defense, which gave up the most yards and points in the NFL last season, is a priority and can benefit their second-year quarterback.

“Having a better defense and improving on defense is at the front of our minds,” Saleh said Wednesday in a Zoom call with reporters.

The Jets defense has more holes than the plot of a bad movie. The Jets could use upgrades at nearly every spot on the defense except tackle. While the focus will be on how the Jets can bring Wilson along with better receivers and protection, Saleh said the Jets can also help him by not forcing him to play from behind as much as he did as a rookie.

“We got a little bit better toward the end of the year but there was a minute there where we were giving up 40 points a game, 30, 40 points,” Saleh said. “If you’re having to play a shootout, that’s a lot of pressure on a quarterback. I don’t care which quarterback you are. To wake up on Sunday morning knowing that you’re about to go into a shootout and you have to keep pace because you can’t get enough stops. Absolutely, it helps [offensive coordinator Mike] LaFleur, it helps Zach, it helps everybody because you can play a style of ball where you can call plays to set things up. You don’t have to be impatient. It’s OK to punt. It’s OK to keep the game a one-score game and then shoot, the fourth quarter comes, it’s playmaker time, let’s go make some plays and win a football game.”

The Jets have around $48 million in salary-cap space and four draft picks in the top 38. They have ammunition to improve the team. Saleh knows there are plenty of holes to fill and all of them can aid Wilson’s development.

“The one thing you can say is if you go through offense and defense, there’s a laundry list [of needs] that you can check off,” Saleh said. “It’s not like teams picking 25 through 32, where it’s very easy to say, ‘Oh yeah, for sure they’re going this direction and this direction because those are the only two spots.’ Cincinnati, I bet they do something with their offensive line. There’s not a lot of things that they have to do differently. Anything we do to this team is going to be helping the quarterback at this point, whether it’s improving the defense, adding a skill guy, improving the O-line, adding a tight end. It doesn’t matter. Everything that we do, no matter what decision we make we feel like will be indirectly or directly improving the quarterback.”