The fourth preseason game isn’t necessarily significant, but to Todd Bowles, it seems to hold more meaning than it does to other coaches.

While other teams frequently rest their starters in the preseason finale to avoid injury, the Jets’ coach is somewhat different. A year ago, Bowles played his first team offense, including starting quarterback Josh McCown, for a series.

Bowles hinted he could do the same, to some extent, Thursday in Philadelphia against the Eagles.

“I’ll pick and choose the guys I want to play, and I’ll let them know about it, probably [on] Wednesday,” he said. “Everybody is expected to play, but I will keep some people out.”

His reasoning is simple. With so much time between the third preseason game and the regular season — the Jets will have 16 days in between facing the Giants on Aug. 24 and traveling to Detroit to meet the Lions on Sept. 10 — rust can build up. He’s not worried about injuries.

“It’s just a matter of working on things,” he said. “Sometimes you just feel like you need to work on things against a different team. It has nothing to do with an advantage or a disadvantage.

“If you feel like your guys haven’t jelled yet or certain guys need to play together with a few guys out, you kind of put them out there and let them play a little bit.”

It sounds like the battles for the Jets’ starting tight end and outside linebacker opposite Jordan Jenkins have been decided. While Bowles said there are spots at each position still open, he hinted that’s only after the starter.

“I have a good idea, yeah,” Bowles said, when asked if the first team spots are still up in the air.

The Jets have a logjam at tight end, with five players — Neal Sterling, Eric Tomlinson, Chris Herndon, Jordan Leggett and Clive Walford — all battling it out to make the roster. The two youngsters — Herndon, a rookie, and second-year pro Leggett — should be safe. David Bass, Brandon Copeland and Josh Martin are in the mix at outside linebacker.