NEW ORLEANS — After yet another loss in yet another lost season for the Jets — this one a desultory 29-6 decision against a below-average Saints team — a sad scene was playing out in the bowels of the Superdome.

Jets first-year general manager Darren Mougey stood at the entrance to the visitors locker room fist-bumping every player as they trudged up the tunnel from the field, losers for the fifth time in the last six games and 12th in 15 overall this season.

Take flight with the Jets

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And then there was Jets first-year head coach Aaron Glenn, at a loss for what to say as the losses continue to mount, resorting to lauding players for effort — as if that’s something to be celebrated, not expected.

“Here’s what I told our guys,” Glenn, standing in front of a sparse group of reporters in a small interview room, began. “The one thing I asked our players to do was to play with effort, and I thought our guys did that. I thought they fought hard. Man, they did everything they could to keep us in this game.”

So, medals are being doled out for trying now. This is where we are with the 2025 Jets.

Ugh.

Well, at least the Jets weren’t embarrassed in a noncompetitive blowout. Not really, anyway. Not until the fourth quarter.

Small victories. Baby steps in whatever program Glenn is trying to build.

Considering the Jets had been outscored 82-30 in the previous two games, Sunday had to be considered progress.

Kind of.

The Jets, who moved from the No. 5 pick to No. 4 with the loss, trailed just 9-6 at the half and were in the game until a meltdown on both sides of the ball late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter doomed them.

Newly appointed interim defensive coordinator Chris Harris, who this week took over for the fired Steve Wilks, didn’t make a difference. After the Jets forced a turnover on the Saints’ opening possession, New Orleans scored on seven of its final 10 possessions. So, that’s not very good.

Nor did the wide-eyed enthusiasm of 24-year-old Brady Cook, the undrafted rookie free agent quarterback who was making his second career start, make a difference.

Cook didn’t embarrass himself. He just wasn’t very good. After entering the game having thrown five interceptions in 63 career passes, he protected the ball … until the fourth quarter, when he lost a fumble and threw an interception to let the game get out of hand.

The problem with Cook, who finished 22-for-35 for 188 yards and the interception, was more that he just didn’t move the offense very well. The Jets looked like they were running in water all day on offense.

Their seven penalties for 54 yards, several of them drive-killers, didn’t help.

“We just couldn’t get into a rhythm,” Jets guard John Simpson said.

The Jets cannot win a game when the quarterback fails to get the offense into the end zone while the opposing team completes 33-for-50 for 346 yards and two touchdowns.

Cook was sacked eight times for 57 yards in losses, though a few of those were on him for holding onto the ball too long and failing to recognize blitz packages.

“No offensive line wants to give up eight sacks,” Simpson said.

“Brady did some good things, but also there’s some things that he has to do better,” Glenn said. “We cannot turn the ball over. He knows that. His hands are on the ball all the time, and he has to protect it.”

The Saints won their third consecutive game riding the 26-year-old rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, who completed 32-for-49 for 308 yards and one touchdown.

A close game deteriorated quickly on the Jets late in the third quarter and into the fourth.

The Saints delivered a dagger with a soul-crushing 93-yard scoring drive on 12 plays that ended in a 23-yard scoring pass from Shough to his top receiver, Chris Olave, whom the Jets simply could not cover all day as he amassed 10 catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns.

The first touchdown of the game by either team gave New Orleans a 16-6 lead with 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The game effectively was ended when Saints backup defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd (a former Jets draft pick, of course) forced a Cook fumble that was recovered by Chase Young with 12:45 remaining in the game.

The Saints turned that into a 19-6 lead on a 50-yard Charlie Smyth field goal with 11:09 remaining. It was Smyth’s fourth of five field goals he had in the game, meaning he alone outscored the entire Jets offense.

On the Jets’ next possession, the Saints put them to sleep when safety Jonas Sanker picked off a Cook pass intended for John Metchie III with 9:08 remaining.

That led to Smyth’s fifth field goal and a 22-6 lead with 5:17 remaining.

The Saints added to the insult when their Swiss Army knife backup quarterback Taysom Hill took a direct snap and connected with Olave for a 38-yard touchdown on the first play after the two-minute warning for the 29-6 lead.

“We’re gonna flush this one,” Glenn said.

The Jets have been doing so much flushing this season it’s amazing the toilets haven’t backed up yet.