Remember when you crossed your fingers and hoped Mark Sanchez wasn’t getting as bad as he looked; or when you prayed Geno Smith might be the Jets’ answer at quarterback before he got punched in the face.

Remember when you hoped to squeeze another good season out of Ryan Fitzpatrick or capture some late magic from Josh McCown? Remember those nights when the Jets quarterback situation kept you up late fearing the worst on Sunday?

When the Jets play the Giants on Thursday night at MetLife Stadium it will be the first time since heading into Sanchez’s second season in 2010 that the Jets aren’t uncertain about their quarterback situation. Thanks to Sam Darnold these aren’t the Same Old Jets.

It’s just the first preseason game, but the Jets look different, they feel different and they act different. For so many years they’ve been built on straw. Whether it was a coach on the hot seat or no real franchise quarterback on the roster or age giving way to injuries, the Jets haven’t been as stable as they are now since those early Rex Ryan years. Give Darnold credit for that.

The third-overall pick in the 2018 draft had a solid rookie season and has followed with a strong training camp. He seems to be clicking with new head coach Adam Gase, who was brought here specifically to develop Darnold into an elite quarterback that can carry the Jets to postseason success.

That journey unofficially begins Thursday night when Gase and Darnold communicate through headsets for the first time under game conditions.

“You just try not to give him too much,” Gase said. “At the same time you want to try to give him a little nugget ever once in a while just to make sure that he understands why you’re calling certain things.”

You know these aren’t the Same Old Jets when it’s the Giants who enter the preseason with quarterback questions. First-round pick Daniel Jones will presumably start the season as the backup to Eli Manning and time will tell whether there’s a point in the season when change will be needed or demanded.

Jones will probably get more attention Thursday night from a Giants home crowd, trying to understand why he was selected with the sixth-overall pick when he might have been available in the second round.

The Jets don’t have to deal with those questions. Darnold won a mock training camp battle with McCown last year to become the starting quarterback. There were growing pains amid a lame-duck year for head coach Todd Bowles, who didn’t have a good enough team to support a rookie quarterback.

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But while the Jets went 4-12 and Bowles was fired, Darnold gained valuable experience starting 13 games. He threw 17 touchdowns passes against 15 interceptions. He was sacked 30 times, but should get better protection from an offensive line bolstered by the additions of Kelechi Osemele, Alex Lewis and Ryan Kalil.

Darnold should also benefit from having Gase as his head coach. It’s not ideal for a quarterback to have to learn an entirely new offensive scheme in his second year, but the long-term benefits should be good for Darnold.

“I just have to go out there, execute, do my job and that’s really it,” Darnold said. “Do that to the best of my ability and if I do that, I think I’ll be all right.”

It’s just the first preseason game, but these already aren’t the Same Old Jets. Le’Veon Bell and free-agent linebacker C.J. Mosley are in their primes at 27. Pro Bowl safety Jamal Adams will only get better. The offensive line has plenty of experience; the defense has a mixture of youth and age and should excel under defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. Most importantly, nobody has to cross their fingers about the Jets quarterback anymore.

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