In the early stages of Quinton Jefferson’s career, back when the Jets’ defensive tackle tried to earn snaps with the Seahawks as a fifth-round pick out of Maryland, he had the ideal situation for learning how to defend mobile quarterbacks.

Russell Wilson, two years removed from the Seahawks’ Super Bowl victory when Jefferson arrived in 2016, made broken plays seem scripted.

He navigated around the line of scrimmage’s gaps and maneuvered with ease around the defensive linemen — or anyone else — trying to tackle him.

“You ain’t gonna see no quarterback as athletic as him,” Jefferson told The Post after practice Friday, “so chasing him around every day definitely helped prepare you for the week because you ain’t have nobody moving around like him.”

Jefferson hasn’t seen that approach disappear on film, even with Wilson struggling since his March 2022 trade to the Broncos.

So when the Jets and Denver meet Sunday in Denver, Jefferson and defensive lineman Al Woods — who also played with Wilson — will have the opportunity to translate that experience into their gameplan to stop Sean Payton’s offense.

Wilson, who has Next Gen Stats’ third-highest passer rating in 2023, has thrown nine touchdowns and two interceptions through four weeks, and despite the Broncos’ 1-3 record, Jets head coach Robert Saleh said Wilson “looks like the same guy” from his time as Seattle’s defensive quality control coach during Wilson’s first two seasons and when he faced the Seahawks as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator.

“You can tell [Wilson and Payton are] starting to get comfortable, they’re starting to understand each other, they’re starting to understand what is being asked of each other,” Saleh said Friday before the Jets practiced. “They’re moving in the right direction.”

That’s why the Jets can’t “rush against a statue” against Wilson, Jefferson said. Wilson hasn’t come close to surpassing — or even reaching — his career-best 849 rushing yards from 2014, but the threat remains once he leaves the pocket.

Saleh added earlier in the week that Wilson’s arm “is alive,” too.

When Wilson willed the Seahawks to victories — “Come on guys, let’s get it, we’re going to win this,” Jefferson recalled him saying — regardless of the score, Jefferson believed him every time.

Wilson’s 28 fourth-quarter comebacks sit in a tie for 13th all-time, and Jefferson witnessed 15 of those from 2015-19.

The most recent one occurred last week against the Bears.

Jefferson, who signed with the Jets in April, knows that side of Wilson, in addition to his quarterbacking abilities, hasn’t changed, either.

“I know we gotta match for it because he still has that spirit in him and that competitive edge in him,” Jefferson said, “and we got to match that energy.”