At last, Gang Green doing great job handling QB position

Reams of newspaper print space, as well as TV and radio air time, have been dedicated to criticism of the Jets over the years.

If we’re being honest, they often have made themselves an easy target.

Not this time. Not with the deft handling of their current quarterback situation, which has been nothing short of spot-on since the moment the 2017 season ended.

Dating back to the moment they re-signed veteran Josh McCown for a second season in green and white, to when they signed Teddy Bridgewater, who’s trying to come back from a devastating knee injury that erased the last two years of his playing career, to their drafting and developing of No. 3-overall pick Sam Darnold, the Jets have pushed every right button.

And for this, though the real season is still days away, the Jets deserve their due credit.

“They couldn’t have done it better,’’ former Giants quarterback and current NFL analyst for CBS Phil Simms said Tuesday.

“I love their quarterback situation,’’ former Steelers head coach and current CBS studio analyst Bill Cowher said.

Jets management and their coaching staff have put together perfect chemistry in their quarterback room.

McCown is the ultimate unselfish, team-first player who’s a coach disguised as a player in uniform.

Bridgewater is grateful for the opportunity the Jets have given him to resurrect his career — even if it turns out to be nothing more than a chance to showcase his improved health and ability in preseason to play for another team.

There was little financial commitment in signing Bridgewater, who if he’s traded figures to bring in a good draft pick — though the Jets should be in no hurry to move him unless their leverage demands a second- or third-round pick. Darnold? The kid has the presence, even at age 21 and without having played a real game as a pro yet, of a 31-year-old with NFL experience.

“I think it’s a really, really, really healthy situation,’’ Cowher said. “In the NFL, the one position everyone’s always trying to solve is the quarterback position. I think what you have right now with the Jets is as healthy a quarterback situation as there is in the NFL.’’

Those are some strong words about a team whose quarterback situations over the years have often bordered on the worst in the league (hello Mark Sanchez-Tim Tebow competition).

Jets quarterback turned CBS NFL analyst and WFAN morning drive-time personality, never has pulled punches when it’s come to constructive criticism of his former team. Not this time, though. “I think they’ve handled this thing great,’’ Esiason said. “The trade [up to draft Darnold] was awesome. The Bridgewater signing has been great.’’

Tony Romo, CBS’ lead NFL game color analyst and former Cowboys QB, has watched a lot of Darnold, before he was drafted and this preseason, and is bullish on him and how well the Jets have orchestrated their quarterback maneuvers.

“They went and gave themselves options, which is hard to do in the NFL,’’ Romo said Tuesday. “I like the fact that they didn’t just bet on one thing [Darnold].’’

Enter Bridgewater, perhaps the most valuable insurance policy in the league at the moment.

“It’s always good for quarterbacks who are young to be around players that have had production in the NFL,’’ Romo said. “They’ll see, through osmosis, what the veterans do, how they think and how they prepare. When a young quarterback is around a veteran who has played like Josh and Teddy that’s a big bonus.’’

Said Simms: “I’m very surprised by Teddy Bridgewater. I saw him at end of last year and I thought, ‘Oh my God, I don’t think he’ll ever make it back.’ But he’s better now than he was ever in Minnesota. He’s stronger, he’s got a little more zip on the ball and he’s throwing it better.’’

Simms and Romo said they don’t believe how well or poorly Darnold starts the season will have great impact on how good he’ll be in the long run.

Asked if there’s a “danger’’ starting a 21-year-old quarterback, Romo said, “There’s always danger. There’s danger in starting a 29-year-old quarterback. You’ve got to start somewhere. The way to get better at football is to play football.’’

Simms referred to what he called “a great line’’ he once heard from Terry Bradshaw when thinking about what lies ahead for Darnold and the Jets.

“He said, ‘ As a quarterback, before you go to heaven you’ve got to go to hell,’ ’’ Simms said.

The Jets, as their tortured fans can attest to, have spent a lot more time in hell than they have in heaven.