The loss for the second consecutive season of stud right tackle Alijah Vera-Tucker (torn Achilles) is of course a blow to the best-laid plans of mice and Jets.

But if they are who they think they are, they can weather this latest storm in an NFL stricken with parity and Next Man Up reality.

Every team has its resilience and resolve tested at some point by unwelcome thunderbolts and unfortunate adversity.

Remember, during their six-game slide to end the 2022 season, Robert Saleh had an incompetent Wilson and didn’t have AVT or running back Breece Hall or left tackle Mekhi Becton or offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.

Reasons for hope that the 2-3 Jets can give New York a season, and maybe even end their 12-year playoff drought:

The defense

Only the Cowboys have scored more than 23 points on the Jets. It was a little less than perfect against Russell Wilson, but Quincy Williams and Bryce Hall, starting in place of D.J. Reed (concussion) finished the deal at the 11th hour. Williams, the self-proclaimed fastest linebacker in football, is emerging as a potential star.

“He’s just doing things at a high level, and he’s doing things right more than wrong,” C.J. Mosley said.

Defensive end Bryce Huff is an unsung hero who is providing the pass rush that Saleh and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich were expecting from Carl Lawson. Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner are elite, Jermaine Johnson has matured into a problem and Mosley remains the brains of the operation.

The Jets surrendered their first touchdown of the second half on Sunday. “Our system’s designed in a way … you can make the adjustments that you need to make to kinda throw wrenches in whatever their game plan was for the week,” Saleh said.

Breece Hall

He reminded the Broncos (72-yard TD run, 177 yards) and everyone else what a difference-maker he is, a rare combination of power, deceptive speed and elite instincts.

“He has a lot to prove for himself and obviously to the world,” Mosley said.

Right tackle Max Mitchell appears to be Next Man Up, with experienced Billy Turner on call, but it should be encouraging that Hall needs only a little bit of space to exploit and explode. He makes Zach Wilson so much more comfortable and is an option out of the backfield in the passing game, even if he was targeted only three times in Denver.

“It makes me more inclined to go in there and did our safeties and to block corners and linebackers and stuff when I got a guy like him back out there that can pop off a 70-yard run at any moment,” Allen Lazard said.

Zachett

The quarterback and OC are still getting to know one another with assistance behind the curtain from Aaron Rodgers. Hackett now has a Ground & Pound option yet isn’t leery of letting Wilson throw on first down.

“They’re gonna have to start putting eight, nine guys in the box to try to overload it to be able to prevent him from popping off a run,” Lazard said.

Wilson must work on his situational awareness but he has thrown 65 passes over the last two games with one fourth-quarter interception. Again, with that defense, it appears that he has learned that he doesn’t have to play hero ball.

Touchdowns will be preferable to field goals in the red zone.

“There’s definitely things that Hack and his staff identified this morning and something that we’ll apply for the entire week,” Saleh said.

Zachett has integrated the tight end more into the offense. Tyler Conklin, C.J. Uzomah and Jeremy Ruckert have combined for seven receptions in each of the last two games. In the opener against the Bills, Conklin caught one pass for 2 yards and that was all for the tight ends.

“The play-calls, and the design of the plays, are putting Zach in the best position to be successful,” Lazard said.

Garrett Wilson was targeted 14 times against the Chiefs but only seven times in Denver (3-54) against elite CB Patrick Surtain. Feed him.

The wild-card field

Forget about winning the AFC East, the Bills or Dolphins are the class of the division. So we are talking about the 3-2 Chargers, the 3-2 Colts, the 3-2 Ravens or 3-2 Steelers, 2-2 Browns and 2-3 Bengals as the main competition.

So let’s say that the Bills win their fourth consecutive division title and the Dolphins snare a wild-card berth and the Ravens win the AFC North and the Chiefs the AFC West and the Jaguars the AFC South. That would leave the Steelers, Chargers, Colts, Jets, Browns and Bengals vying for the other two berths.

The Steelers have T.J. Watt, but Kenny Pickett and OC Matt Canada are not Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. The Brandon Staley Chargers have Justin Herbert, Austin Ekeler returning from his high ankle sprain and a habit of underachieving. The Colts have Jonathan Taylor back but Anthony Richardson can’t stay on the field. The Browns lost Nick Chubb for the season and Deshaun Watson no longer looks elite. Joe Burrow finally resembled Joe Burrow but Who Dey really?

None of these teams should scare the Jets. Who, of course, by the same token will scare none of them.

The schedule

The Big Bad Eagles will be at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. But the following three games — Giants and Chargers at home, and at the Raiders — are all winnable, and virtually must-winnable with the Bills and Dolphins looming immediately afterward. So the mission: get to 5-4.

A wild-card playoff berth? Not Mission Impossible.