FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — This was the fun part for Mike Maccagnan. The Jets’ general manager sat at a table on Thursday flanked by two of the team’s new Gotham Green helmets happily sharing a story about a pre-draft meeting with Quinnen Williams, the team’s first-round draft choice.

Williams, who went to the Jets with the third overall pick, had watched film with the team’s coaches during the visit. The 303-pound defensive tackle, who’d taken care of three siblings after his mother died when he was 12, impressed the coaches with his insight, proving to be a student of the game.

“He’s a guy we feel very good about,” Maccagnan said, “and he’s just scratching his potential.”

One night later, Maccagnan took a seat at the same table, still adorned with the two helmets, and had considerably less fun talking about his next draft choice, Jachai Polite, a linebacker from Florida. Polite, who on talent might have been a first-round pick, knocked himself down many lists with an awful showing at the league’s scouting combine in March.

Maccagnan found himself defending using a third-round pick on a player who had been labeled lazy, difficult to coach and disruptive in the locker room. Polite had added to the knocks against him by grumbling that the Green Bay Packers “bashed” him in a pre-draft interview.