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We want the back knee at least slightly bent in the jerk for 2 primary reasons:
 
First, a straight back leg pushes you forward rather than allowing you to absorb the weight straight down with balance and stability.
 
Second, the straighter your back leg, the more tension it places on the hip flexors, which can cause you to lean too far forward, or the lower back to hyperextend.
 
You should be balanced evenly between your two feet, your back knee should be behind your hip, your trunk should be leaned forward only enough to create the proper overhead position, and your lower back should be neutral.
 
We don’t want the back knee bent any more than necessary because that too can create problems, the most critical of which is that a significantly bent back knee means the back leg is unable to support much weight, so puts us in a weak position in which we’re prone to collapse or fall back away from the bar.
 
It also makes it more likely we’ll be precariously up on the toes of the back foot rather than on more of the forefoot for better stability.
 
Use the push jerk behind the neck in split to feel the knees bending together to absorb weight straight down and maintain balance, then progress to jerk behind the neck from split to increase the challenge and further strengthen the position.