You hope, as a Jets fan, not to hear their names at all during Sunday’s game against the 49ers at Giants Stadium. They, too, hope not to hear their own names or numbers called.

Brent Smith and Jonathan Goodwin, two backup guards, take center stage against the 49ers, replacing injured starters Pete Kendall and Brandon Moore.

For Smith, it’s a time to re-prove himself after starting all 16 games at right guard last season and then having – in his words – a poor training camp, which led to the signing of the veteran Kendall.

Kendall, signed in training camp after inexplicably being released by Arizona, has been one of the unsung heroes of this season, emerging as a team leader. He’s out at least through Sunday’s game with a fracture on the big toe of his right foot. Moore is listed as doubtful with a left hamstring pull.

That means a first career NFL start for Goodwin, a fifth-round draft pick in the 2002 season. Goodwin came in to replace Moore last week against the Bills and was graded out well against Buffalo behemoth DTs Pat Williams and Sam Adams.

“To go out there and do it against guys like Pat and Sam was a big confidence booster,” Goodwin said. “I kind of needed that going into this week. It definitely boosted my confidence.”

“Jonathan’s done a really good job,” Jets’ C Kevin Mawae said. “He came in as a rookie and played a few games for us. A lot of people were down on him the last year and a half, but he’s gotten a lot better. He’s going to do a great job, and Brent is going to be fine. He played all last year for us. We expect him to step up and play a good game.”

“This will be my first regular-season start and that’s important to me,” Goodwin said. “Of course, I would have liked to have done better so I could have done it a lot earlier, but I don’t know if I necessarily proved I was dependable enough to play before. I want to go out there and show what I can do.”

As for Smith, he’s simply seeking to re-assert himself on the team after losing his starting job.

“It will be a good opportunity for me just to get a little playing time,” Smith said. “It’s my job on this team, my role to step in if someone gets banged up.”

“They’ll be all right,” Herman Edwards said. “Brent was a starter last year and Jonathan has played in some games. This is a part of the season, guys getting hurt and teams having to make adjustments. Doug [Marrone, the offensive line coach] has done a good job of training those guys at different positions.”

During the heat of training camp, Smith, knowing he wasn’t performing well, was man enough to come out and say simply, “I’m not getting it done.”

Kendall was signed a short time later and Smith has quietly toiled in a reserve role.

“It was disappointing, but I understand it’s a business, and the bottom line is I wasn’t getting it done,” Smith said.