THEY will gather together this morning at Weeb Ewbank Hall, knowing in their hearts and in their heads that they should be diving into another work week, preparing for one more football game, carrying the best story in football on their shoulders.

By now, it will surely have sunk in.

By now, the reality of what happened in Pittsburgh on Saturday night will surely have saturated their souls, and you would imagine there would be quite a few long faces and heavy hearts in that locker room, stuffing their belongings in Baggies and duffel bags, packing boxes, destined for homes across the country.

This is always the hardest part, no matter when the season ends. If it finishes shy of the playoffs, you have to swallow an extra-large helping of underachievement. If it’s in the first round, an unsatisfying tease of a taste. But when it ends before it should end . . .

That’s the jarring part. The season is over. The winter is upon you.

The future begins immediately.

And the hard questions begin. For the Jets, the hardest questions will involve two players this offseason, one on either side of the ball, John Abraham and LaMont Jordan. Oh, there are other necessities: a playmaking tight end would be nice. A wide receiver with size would be nice. Reinforcements in the secondary could make a good defense great.

But Abraham and Jordan are the keys, mostly because it will be difficult for the Jets to keep them both. Abraham is an All-Pro pass rusher whose late-season absence was felt subtly, but surely. Jordan has been a career backup to Curtis Martin who has tantalized Jets fans with his big-play capability.

Maybe Terry Bradway can get creative, slap a franchise tag on one while paying the other enough to keep him happy. But that’s a long shot. So there here is the question that will plague the Jets the hardest as they forge into the offseason:

Abraham or Jordan?

And hard as it is, the choice has to be Jordan. He has to be the priority.

This is no knock at Abraham, although it certainly could be. It isn’t that refused to play hurt that compromises his credibility as a cornerstone player; it’s that he didn’t even try to play hurt. Herm Edwards can say all he likes that it wouldn’t have made sense for Abraham to go if he wasn’t 100 percent ready, costing the Jets an extra active body, but that’s nonsense. Just Abraham’s presence would have made a difference, a big one. Just his participation in a handful of plays would have sent a message to his teammates, and to his bosses:

You can’t keep me in the tub. Not during the playoffs.

Even with this, it would make sense for the Jets to franchise Abraham if not for the looming possibility of losing Jordan. And that’s what makes this such a hard decision. If you franchise Jordan, you’re agreeing to pay him starter’s money – somewhere north of $7 million – which means you may be forced to start treating Jordan and Curtis Martin as equals.

And you know what?

That’s exactly as they should be treated. This is no disrespect to Martin, a physical wonder who won an NFL rushing crown at age 31 this year. But the fact is, no matter how brilliant he was, he still has far more yesterdays in his career than tomorrows.

Jordan is five years younger, with fresh legs and a burning desire to prove himself as an elite back. Edwards surely believes he has those chops, based on his words and his sideline behavior in San Diego nine days ago. Do you forfeit Jordan’s next five years in order to try and maximize Martin’s next two?

More to the point: If you’re a Jets fan do you really want to see LaMont Jordan wearing a Dolphins uniform next year?

In a perfect world, the Jets wouldn’t have to make a choice. The NFL in 2005 is not a perfect world. If they have to choose, it has to be Jordan.