Sam Darnold returned to the practice field Wednesday. The Jets are holding out hope he can return to the game field Sunday when they face the Eagles.

The quarterback practiced for the first time since he was diagnosed with mononucleosis three weeks ago. He was officially listed as limited in practice, but it sounds like he was able to do nearly everything in the session. Doctors have not yet cleared Darnold for contact. That could come Friday when he will undergo more tests to see if his spleen remains enlarged.

“I like our odds better than what they’ve been,” coach Adam Gase said. “Last week, if we would have been playing a game, I would have said it was really low. I like the fact that things have looked and progressed in the right direction. But I don’t know what that 5 percent is. There’s just some gray there still.”

Gase sounded more optimistic than he did Monday when speaking about Darnold. The Jets sound like they are comfortable with him playing if the doctors give them the OK. Gase said he could wait until Sunday to know, but the more realistic situation is a determination is made Friday. If Darnold can’t play, Luke Falk would make his second start.

Darnold wore a red jersey in practice Wednesday, signaling he was not to be touched by defenders. Quarterbacks are not hit anyway in practice, but the Jets took the extra precaution of putting him in red. He also wore heavy padding underneath his regular pads to protect his spleen.

Though Darnold was diagnosed three weeks ago, the team believes he may have had mononucleosis for two weeks prior to that. Darnold began to not feel well at the end of August but thought it was a normal illness and played through it, including the Week 1 loss to the Bills on Sept. 8. It was not until three days after that game that he was diagnosed with mono. Some have questioned whether the Jets are rushing him back, but if he has had the condition for five weeks, it makes more sense that he could be ready to return this week.

The decision on whether Darnold can play will go through two steps. First, the doctors must give the OK. Nothing will be done without medical clearance from them. If he is medically cleared, then Gase, general manager Joe Douglas, the coaching staff, front office, doctors and trainers will have to determine whether he has looked 100 percent in practice, how his conditioning is and whether he is ready to play or could use more time.

Gase clearly wants his quarterback to return, with the team at 0-3 and the offense scuffling, but said he will listen to other voices in the organization, including

Douglas, to make sure they are making the right call for Darnold and the organization.

“That’s why it can’t just be one person,” Gase said. “That’s why Joe and those guys [have] got to be involved and the training staff, the doctors because I know what [Darnold] is going to say because if it was up to Sam, I know what’s going to happen. If it’s me, yeah, that’s why Joe is an important part of this — for him to be here, seeing if it doesn’t look right, this is what we’ve got to do.”

The reports were positive after Wednesday’s practice.

“He looked like himself,” wide receiver Robby Anderson said. “He looked good. He looked confident. Me, I didn’t feel like he was away. I feel like we pretty much connected on everything today. I feel like he feels good. You could tell that he’s excited to be back. He wanted to put in a lot of extra work, so that’s a good sign.”

Gase said the team will get Falk ready to play if Darnold is ruled out. That leaves a bit of uncertainty to this week.

“Ideally, it would be nice to say, ‘This is what we’re doing,’ ” Gase said. “That’s just not the situation. We’ve just got to keep talking to the doctors every day, keep talking with him and we have to be prepared to go either way.”