FLORHAM PARK — Lest anyone get carried away, it was the first day of rookie minicamp, and it was the second Friday in May, more than four months before any football that actually counts will be played.

But Leonard Williams, the defensive end the Jets selected in the first round of last week's draft out of USC flashed plenty of quickness and agility in his first open practice with the Jets. Especially for someone who's 6-foot-5, 302 pounds.

"No different than on tape," Jets head coach Todd Bowles said. "He's explosive, powerful, smart. The one thing I saw: He has good eyes. He can hit and lock-out, and he can see what's going on, and kind of still play with his feet. It's early, on Day 1, but that's one of the small things I saw."

Remember: Players were in shorts, with no pads. And the offensive linemen Williams was matched up against on Friday were not the caliber Williams will see on Sundays this fall. But the vision Bowles described—that counts for something.

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One one particular play, quarterback Bryce Petty ran a play-action to his left and turned to throw a swing pass to his right, which happened to be Williams' side. Williams didn't bite and immediately bore down on Petty as Petty delivered the throw.

"He's a disciplined player," Bowles said. "He knows where he needs to be. You can tell he's played a lot of football; he takes on blocks a certain way. He's seen quite a few more things than some rookies have seen."

Williams, who signed his rookie contract later Friday, played a 3-4 at USC. He said the Jets' 3-4 system isn't much different than what he was used to.

"But I think here, it's a lot more attacking [where] at USC we did a lot of reading, trying to read the o-linemen and follow their footsteps," Williams said. "Whereas here, we just take an initial step and then put our hands on the linemen. So far, we've been taking a lot of slants and stunts getting a lot of D-line movement."

Dom Cosentino may be reached at dcosentino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @domcosentino. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.