Get well quickly, Sterling.

That no doubt is what the Giants are thinking and hoping Saturday after their top wide receiver, Sterling Shepard, was added to the injury report with an illness. The Giants are listing him as questionable to play Sunday against the Chiefs at MetLife Stadium.

Already a 10-point underdog, playing at home, the Giants (1-8) cannot afford to face the 6-3 Chiefs (in first place in the AFC West) without their top playmaker. Shepard is coming off a career-high 11-reception performance (for 142 yards) in a 31-21 loss last week to the 49ers. With the season-ending injuries to Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall, Shepard is the last-man standing at receiver. Roger Lewis and Tavarres King have filled in, with marginal success. If Shepard cannot play, undrafted free agent Travis Rudolph would have to be activated for the game.

For the season, Shepard has 38 catches for 475 yards and one touchdown. He missed two games with a sprained ankle.

Amid the ruins of this season, Orleans Darkwa is showing he belongs.

The 25-year-old running back is averaging 5.1 yards per rushing attempt (sixth in the NFL) and is now a fixture in the starting lineup. He did not get much action the first three games — as Paul Perkins tried, and failed, to hold down the starting spot. Perkins went down with torn cartilage in his ribs, and Darkwa has started the past five games. Perkins is healed, but has been relegated to the bench, with Darkwa, rookie Wayne Gallman and veteran Shane Vereen handling the workload in the backfield.

“I cherish the opportunity, but at the end of the day, I feel like I’m not doing enough to get the wins on the board,’’ Darkwa said. “We got to do more as a team to get these wins and I feel like if there’s anything I can do to improve as a back and improve my game to help the team win, that’s what I’m trying to improve.’’

Since he was put into the starting lineup, Darkwa has more yards after contact than any running back in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. Darkwa’s 2016 season ended on injured reserve, and last December he had a steel plate inserted into his left shin, correcting a lingering problem.

“I just try to put my head down and get my legs churning,’’ Darkwa said. “I think that’s something that I’ve tried to pride myself in. Try to get north-south as much as possible, as fast as possible and once there’s a guy that gets his hands on me, just keep your legs churning.’’

With a loss to the Chiefs, the Giants would match a franchise lowlight for the worst start after 10 games. They lost their first nine games in 1976 and were 1-9 after 10 games. That was the last time they fired a coach during the season, replacing Bill Arnsparger at 0-7 with John McVay, who went 3-4 the rest of the way.

If the Chiefs win, they will make franchise history. They have never beaten the Giants in New Jersey, going 0-6. The last time the Chiefs played the Giants on the road, Tiki Barber ran for 220 yards in a 27-17 Giants victory in 2005. … It looks like a misprint, but it is not. Alex Smith has attempted 293 passes and thrown only one interception. He has 18 touchdown passes. No wonder his passer rating is 113.9.

“I like that guy Alex Smith,’’ Jason Pierre-Paul said. “I played against him a couple times and he’s a very cool cat. I like playing against him, but he knows what to do, man. He’s been in the game for a while, he’s a veteran of the game and we got to keep our composure.’’

Smith is second on the Chiefs with 173 rushing yards, as he can hurt a defense with his legs as well as his arm.