Today we have our next-to-last summer Q&A, with safety Eric Smith. The seven-year veteran is the one piece still in place at the Jets' overhauled safety position, so he is an important resource for free agent signings Yeremiah Bell and LaRon Landry and draft picks Josh Bush and Antonio Allen. In this questionnaire, collected at mini-camp, he talks about the Jets' new safeties and clamping down on big plays this year.

What can you, Yeremiah Bell and LaRon Landry do at the safety position?

In Rex’s defense, we play a lot of DBs, put sometimes three, four safeties on the field. Put Yeremiah out there, myself, Landry, we can do a lot of things with that. We’ve got some blitzers, got some cover guys, so it’s good.

You know the defense the best out of any of the safeties. Have you been a leader in the room to get those guys up to speed?

Yeah, I’m trying to, but ‘YB’ is picking it up fast. It’s impressive how fast he’s picking it up. He’s one of those guys, I don’t know if it’s being a veteran guy -- he’s been around football for a while, so he understands it. You tell him once what we need to do on the one play, and he’s got it. You’ve only got to tell him one time.

What are your personal goals for the season?

I’m still working on it. We’ll see when we get to training camp. I'll keep them to myself right now.

Who is your pick for a breakout player this season?

Josh Bush has been doing really well. As a rookie, he’s coming in, making a lot of plays, picking the defense up fast, so I think we’ll see some good things out of him. He’s just got a work ethic. He comes in, and you can tell he’s studying because he’s learning. And he’s a respectful guy, comes in and keeps his mouth shut. You talk to him, he learns it. If he has a question, he comes and asks, doesn’t talk back. A good rookie.

What will be the biggest difference between last year and this year?

On the defense, we’re going to have everything together. The way we’re looking now, we’ve got a lot of high expectations, and the offense is looking good, too. (Offensive coordinator Tony) Sparano comes in, and we’ve got a lot of confidence in what they’re doing over there.

What do you mean the defense will have "everything together"?

No mistakes, no communication errors like we had last year. That way we’re not giving up those big plays.