Ahead of his first NFL regular season game, WR Arian Smith is ready for the next chapter.

"College doesn't matter now," the rookie receiver said Thursday. "It's a whole new story, and this is game one for me. I'm here to make a new name for myself, with a new number, a new color, a new logo. I'm just excited to go out there with the Jets and make plays and be victorious."

Smith and seven other Jets' rookies, including TE Mason Taylor, will run out of the tunnel for their first regular season game at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. In front of a home crowd with a challenging AFC opponent across the field, the moment won't be too big for the rookie pass catchers -- who each believe their job on Sunday is simple.

"Just doing whatever I can to help the team," Smith said of what a successful Week 1 performance would look like. "Whether it's on special teams or on offense, just doing my job to the best of my ability."

Added Taylor: "Just to win. It's a team game. I'm not looking for anything personal stat wise. I've been trying to be a better blocker this whole camp, so just going out there and giving it my all for our run game and our pass game and seeing where things go."

Taylor and Smith -- who were selected in the second and fourth round, respectively -- each lived up to expectations throughout the summer and sometimes exceeded them. Smith, who specifically worked on his ball skills during training camp, said he arrived at 1 Jets Drive as a quiet guy just focused on "figuring things out." The Georgia product has since found a way to embrace his environment.

"I just come in every day with a smile on my face and just get to work," he said. "I make sure I take notes, ask somebody if I need help and just be where my feet are."

Taylor's focus has been on improving his blocking skills, something that HC Aaron Glenn and OC Tanner Engstrand have been impressed with throughout the summer. Though he missed some time due to an ankle injury, Taylor has seemingly made his presence known every time he has stepped on the field -- whether it be in practice or his limited preseason action vs. the Giants.

"I feel really good about Mason," Engstrand said Thursday. "Mason is a smart, instinctual football player. Of course, it's hard always when you miss a little bit of time, but he's picked up right where he left off, and we feel like he's in a really good spot heading into the game."

Though Taylor's extensive college resume speaks for itself -- he left LSU as the most productive tight end in school history -- the significance of experiencing his first gameday is not lost on him.

"It's going to be really important," Taylor said of Week 1. "Building experience week in and week out, that's definitely really important with the game speed and stuff like that changing. I think I'm ready for it. I'm mentally mature for it. It's really exciting."

Added Smith of his first NFL action: "It'll be important to just get the butterflies out of my stomach. Get the first catch, first hit out of the way. Just find a way to make plays for this team so we can win."

Taylor and Smith are not the only ones who will be experiencing a first this Sunday. Glenn will stand on the sideline as a first-time head coach after returning to lead his former team in January, and the message from the man full of Green & White pride was heard loud and clear by players across the locker room -- rookies and veterans alike.

"Coach told us to take it personal," Smith said of the game. "Go out there and make sure they know the name on your back, and most definitely on your helmet."