It's been a bit of a trying period in Jarvis Brownlee Jr.'s young life. But he's back in the Jets' nickel conversation, and he's among friends.

Brownlee's first season in green and white was truncated at both ends. He didn't arrive until a Week 3 trade from Tennessee, and after playing in seven games and starting two, he went on Injured Reserve with a hip injury. So it was sweet for him to be listed as the first-teamer at slot corner on the Jets' early depth charts and to get his first start, in the preseason opener against Tampa Bay, since the game at New England last November.

"It went pretty smooth," Brownlee said after Wednesday's training camp practice  of the game vs. the Bucs. "I got out there and got moving around a little bit. The first time to be out there with the first team defense with the guys, it went pretty good. We were flying around, making plays, and I just look forward to going out there Week 1 and seeing the same thing."

As for those friends, there's a definite Southern charm at work. And fans might not have suspected one of them. NYJets.com reporter Amanda Vogt last week detailed Brownlee's relationship with QB Geno Smith. Not surprisingly, nothing has changed since then. After the Jets' Wednesday training camp practice, he said: "It's an honor and I'm blessed to be in this position and share the field with Geno Smith."

Then there is CB Azareye'h Thomas, who was arriving at Florida State just as Brownlee was making "one of the toughest decisions I had to make in my life" to transfer from his "dream school" of  FSU to Louisville for his final two seasons of college ball.

"AZ is getting better, man. He's the same AZ I always knew at Florida State," Brownlee said. "He's going to stay out there each and every day and work at his craft. He's grown from Year 1 to Year 2. He's starting to get more mature and more confident in himself. He's starting to learn different things about the game, and it's all coming to him. I think he's going to do some really good things this year."

The last friend we know of could be the most consequential. The Jets drafted D'Angelo Ponds high in Round 2 in April and figured for him to compete hard and fast for playing time, perhaps at nickel. Once Ponds returns from his calf strain that has kept him out since early in camp, that's a potential position battle. But again we must consider not only Brownlee's sometimes fiery, always upbeat approach but also his Magic City relationship with Ponds.

"I don't really look at stuff like that," Brownlee said. "I just keep my feet where they are, just wake up every day, and I'm blessed to be here and I just go out there try to get better.

"That's my brother," he said of Ponds. "We're both from Miami, and when kids are from Miami, we stick together when we leave outside the city. I've always got his back. I can't wait for him to get back. just to have him in the room. He's a smart kid, a great athlete, great footwork, and he's just a dog at 5-9. You don't expect a lot of people to play the way he does at 5-9. I can't wait for him to get back and put on a display when he is able to play."

Meanwhile, Jarvis is planning to display out for the Jets and their fans in a few ways. One is in the Jets' planned takeaway renaissance.

"The sense of urgency is 1,000 percent," he said of the desire to break the interception and turnover dam from last year. "And I'm not the only one to feel that way. I think everyone on our defense, whether it's a coach or a player, we need takeaways. Every day we challenge ourselves to get three a day, and if we don't, there's tough consequences for that. ... We keep preaching the same message every day: the ball, the ball, the ball."

How tough are those consequences? "We've got to run if we don't get three, we've got to run gassers. That's the standard, from the D-line room to all the way in the back end."

In general, Brownlee is eager to bring his personal fire back into the Jets' defensive arsenal.

"I know I bring a lot of energy to this team, so I've always got to be that energy guy, keep the energy up. But more than anything, just keep working on my technique. Every day there's room for improvement," he said. "So each and every day I come out here and just try to work on something and get better."

Meanwhile, Jarvis is planning to display out for the Jets and their fans in a few ways. One is in the Jets' planned takeaway renaissance.

"The sense of urgency is 1,000 percent," he said of the desire to break the interception and turnover dam from last year. "And I'm not the only one to feel that way. I think everyone on our defense, whether it's a coach or a player, we need takeaways. Every day we challenge ourselves to get three a day, and if we don't, there's tough consequences for that. ... We keep preaching the same message every day: the ball, the ball, the ball."

How tough are those consequences? "We've got to run if we don't get three, we've got to run gassers. That's the standard, from the D-line room to all the way in the back end."

In general, Brownlee is eager to bring his personal fire back into the Jets' defensive arsenal.

"I know I bring a lot of energy to this team, so I've always got to be that energy guy, keep the energy up. But more than anything, just keep working on my technique. Every day there's room for improvement," he said. "So each and every day I come out here and just try to work on something and get better."