Did Smith lose his best chance to stick as the team’s starting quarterback? Or should we believe his Terminator-like response about his resolve?

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No … and yes.

Smith was New York’s easy No. 1; ready to play well in preseason games. Though many figured a real battle would materialize between Smith and free-agent stopgap Ryan Fitzpatrick, it never did. New offensive coordinator Chan Gailey declared Smith the starter in May. Coach Todd Bowles was more diplomatic but agreed: It was Smith’s job to lose.

They wanted Smith to earn the job without a doubt in camp — which he was doing — and not by default of what Fitzpatrick was not doing. Smith accelerated what he learned in Gailey’s simple spread passing game, and he eliminated interceptions in practice.

It wasn’t just coaches. The Jets’ most notable veteran addition, wide receiver Brandon Marshall, embraced the job of helping Smith mature as a leader. He was building a go-to guy rapport with Smith.😥

Smith doesn’t appear to be a quarterback who can be buried by an off-field incident. Plus, the remaining Jets QBs will have trouble proving themselves.

Second-worst case for Smith: Ryan Fitzpatrick dinks and dunks the Jets to pseudo-playoff contention. Fitzpatrick, 32, has a handle on Gailey’s system. But there’s a reason — on top of his long recovery from a fractured tibia — he wasn’t all that inspiring when Smith was healthy.

Fitzpatrick has a ceiling, and it’s lower than the Jets think.

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New York is better off throwing Bryce Petty in the fire. The rookie has a skill set that suggests he can (someday) start in the NFL. The learning curve for Baylor players has proven to be big, but this is a good opportunity to force Petty to learn faster on the fly.

The Jets, though, will likely go “blah” with Fitzpatrick; look for Fitzmagic that isn’t there. That helps Smith, because his worst-case scenario is Petty playing, playing well and taking over as the next franchise QB.

There’s a good chance of Fitzpatrick either dealing with more durability issues or struggling through an early schedule that features tough pass defenses. In the meantime, Smith isn’t dealing with a shoulder or knee — something that can derail him as a passer. His setback leaves him able to come back as the better alternative.

Smith’s so-called final audition is pushed back to the second half of the season. That’s all.