Even the cruelest “Hard Knocks” twist would not have plotted what happened on the fourth snap of the first drive that started the Jets’ season.

There wasn’t a version that could have accounted for the punt return touchdown from undrafted wideout Xavier Gipson that ended the game Monday night, either.

At first, it was the nightmare that every Jets fan — every dreamer who thought Aaron Rodgers could replicate Broadway Joe’s Super Bowl III success — feared yet no one expected.

Leonard Floyd sacked Rodgers, with the 39-year-old quarterback’s lower left leg collapsing underneath him, and all the promise of the Jets’ offseason collapsed with it. Rodgers sat down on the MetLife Stadium field. He hobbled over to the medical tent with trainers. A cart took him to the tunnel for X-rays.