Running off at the typewriter. …

Can we now please stop with all of the ridiculous rhetoric?

Five games That’s all it took — five games into an 82-game season — for a slice of Orlando Magic fandom to lose its collective mind. After the Magic got off to a 1-4 start, coach Jamahl Mosley should be fired, they said. Desmond Bane was a bust, they insisted. The sky was falling, the season was doomed, and somehow the franchise that had been preaching patience for years was suddenly supposed to operate like an SEC football program after a bad Saturday.

This is what happens when the college-football mentality seeps into the NBA bloodstream; when every snapshot becomes a referendum; when every bad quarter becomes a crisis; when every slow start becomes a firing offense. Never mind the context. Never mind common sense.

Because here’s the truth: the Magic weren’t “struggling.” They were adjusting. They were integrating a major new piece, shifting to a new pace-and-space identity, and learning how to play through the weight of real expectations for the first time in a decade. That’s not dysfunction — that’s evolution.

And evolution is never immediate or seamless. Just ask the human pinky toe, which has been quietly phasing itself out for centuries.

Bane didn’t forget how to shoot. Mosley didn’t suddenly become incompetent. The Magic didn’t somehow regress overnight. What they were doing — what good teams often do early in seasons of transition — was figuring things out. Testing combinations. Building chemistry.

And now? Now they’ve won four of their last five and are 8-7 after Tuesday night’s 121-113 statement win over Golden State. The Magic ran the Warriors off their legs, racking up 28 fast-break points, piling up assists like a pinball machine, and showing the league what this team looks like when its new identity actually snaps into place. And they did it without Paolo Banchero.

Bane? He led the Magic with 23. Anthony Black had a breakout 21. Six players in double figures. Nearly 30 free throws and only two misses. This is what the team was built to become: fast, physical, unselfish and relentless.

And guess what? It took time.

Of course fans are impatient, and — in a way — that’s a good thing. After years of no real stakes, Magic basketball finally matters again. Expectations exist. Standards exist. People care enough to overreact, which is far better than not caring at all.

But let’s not confuse passion with panic.

As Mosley likes to say, “Pressure is a privilege.” He’s right. But sometimes pressure is also a distortion — a funhouse mirror that twists early struggles into existential threats and turns reasonable disappointment into unreasonable fury. Pressure can sharpen a team, but it can also warp a fan base.

So here’s the reminder that manic Magic fans need but probably won’t like:

Championship-caliber teams aren’t microwave dinners. They’re marinated. They’re slow-cooked. They simmer. They stew. They often take a while before all the ingredients blend into something truly delicious. …

Short stuff: After the Jacksonville Jaguars blew out the Chargers on Sunday, coach Liam Coen insisted his team played better when they’re angry. Of course, it was easy to be angry after the Jaguars’ perpetrated the biggest collapse in team history the week before, when they blew a 19-point, fourth-quarter lead against the Houston Texans. But how are the Jags supposed to stay angry with road games coming up against lowly Arizona and Tennessee? Easy — Coen should cancel the luxurious team charters the next two weeks and make the Jags fly commercial on Spirit Airlines. … Is it far-fetched to think Lane Kiffin is about to sign the biggest coaching contract in the history of American sports? … Did you see where Dallas Cowboys coach Marty Schottenheimer benched his two star receivers — CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens — for the first series of the Monday night game against Las Vegas for disciplinary reasons? Who does he think he is — a head coach in the SEC? It reminds me of when former Gators coach Ron Zook benched two of his defensive starters for the first quarter of an Outback Bowl game for missing curfew, but then inserted them into the game when Iowa’s offense was driving down the field late in the first quarter. When asked why he put the two players in the game before the first quarter was over, Zook replied honestly: “Because we needed them.” …

UCF coach Scott Frost says Saturday’s game against 1-9 Oklahoma State is a big game. In related news, Frost also thinks microwaving popcorn is a major culinary undertaking. … Frost, after the Knights were blown out by No. 8 Texas Tech: “The one thing that sticks out to me is they just look like they’re playing at a different speed than us.” Translation: “The one thing that sticks out to me is they just look like they’re playing in a different tax bracket than us.” … Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase has been suspended one game without pay for spitting on Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Jalen Ramsey. The suspension will end up costing Chase about $500,000. In other words, he launched a loogie that was so expensive it should count against the salary cap. … There was a break-in at the home of Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders during Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens. Sanders made his NFL debut in the second half in place of starter Dillon Gabriel, who was placed in the concussion protocol. Sanders completed just 4 of 16 passes with an interception and a really bad intentional-grounding penalty. I’m not saying Shedeur’s debut was awful, but the burglars should have not taken anything from his home and simply left a note that said, “We’re sorry, you’ve suffered enough.” … Two-time national championship coach Urban Meyer will be honored by the University of Florida during Saturday’s game against Tennessee. I’m thinking a bevy of bail bondsmen and local attorney Huntley Johnson should all get front-row seats for the ceremony. … Memo to Tampa Bay Bucs: Josh Allen just scored again. …

Mikey likes: UCF over Okie State by 25, Tennessee over Florida by 27, FSU over N.C. State by 7, Miami over Virginia Tech by 21, Jags over Cardinals by 3, Rams over Bucs by 10, Epstein Files over Twitter Conspiracies by 24/7.

Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on social media @BianchiWrites and listen to my new radio show “Game On” every weekday from 3 to 6 p.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen