Here are a few quick thoughts on the news that Jets quarterback Sam Darnold has mononucleosis and will miss Monday’s game against the Browns — and likely several more weeks after that.

1. It is not an overreaction to wonder if any hopes the Jets had of contending this season are over. It sounds like it could be a while until we see Darnold back on the field. I wrote a few weeks ago that the biggest problem on this team was depth and they could not afford many injuries. Now they’ve lost the most important person on the team.

The biggest unknown is how long Darnold will actually be out. We know for sure he will miss Monday’s game vs. the Browns. I would say it is likely he misses the following week against the Patriots. Jets coach Adam Gase mentioned that he is happy to have a bye week after that, so perhaps Darnold could return against the Eagles on Oct. 6.

The stretch the Jets are entering on the schedule would have been tough with Darnold. Without him, the Jets could be waiting awhile until their first win. The schedule goes Browns, at Patriots, bye, at Eagles, Cowboys and Patriots. It was tough to see a win in that stretch with Darnold. You could say maybe the Browns or the Cowboys at home, but if they don’t have Darnold? Hard to see a win.

Even if Darnold returns, he may not be 100 percent himself all season. Gase said Darnold has already lost weight. If his spleen enlarges, the Jets can’t put him on the field and risk him sustaining a ruptured spleen, which could mean his death. Think about that sentence. He could die. So the Jets are not going to rush this process to state the obvious.

A former Jets GM once wondered if their training center was built on a Native American burial ground because they felt cursed.

This is one of those days when it is fair to wonder that.

2. Somewhat lost in the Darnold news was the rest of the injury report that Gase delivered Thursday. RB Le’Veon Bell is undergoing an MRI exam on his shoulder. New WR Demaryius Thomas can’t practice due to a hamstring injury. LB C.J. Mosley (groin) and DL Quinnen Williams (ankle) are not practicing. This comes a day after the news that WR Quincy Enunwa is out for the season.

That is a lot of key pieces in jeopardy of missing Monday’s game. Again, the Jets’ biggest weakness is their roster depth. That could be on display Monday.

3. The Darnold injury buys Gase time in the evaluation of him as a head coach. This situation is going to test him, but it is also going to be hard to judge this team without Darnold. Trevor Siemian is a backup for a reason. Many Jets fans were unhappy with Gase after Sunday’s loss against the Bills. But it is going to be unfair to expect much from this team with Darnold out or even when he comes back if he is not 100 percent. Gase has had terrible luck as a head coach with starting quarterbacks staying healthy. Ryan Tannehill was injured at the end of Gase’s first year in Miami and missed the entire 2017 season and a portion of last year.

It would be nice to see what Gase could do with his quarterback at full strength for an entire year.