Jets rookie WR Arian Smith says he's "tough" and ready. He's likely to be required to display both qualities against visiting Carolina on Sunday.

"Physicality," he said. "Obviously, I got some speed [4.36 in the 40]. I feel like I'm a tough player. I'm a versatile player. I feel like I do anything and everything they asked me to do. So they want me to go out there and block somebody 200, 300 more pounds than me, I'm going to the best of my ability to do that. So, I just feel like I'm a tough player, and that doesn't get seen a lot."

Smith could be in the brightest spotlight of his young NFL career since the Jets selected him in the fourth round (No. 110 overall) in April's draft. With WR1 Garrett Wilson (knee) possibly missing some time and WR2 Josh Reynolds (hamstring) also hobbled, Smith could feature in the aerial attack in Week 7.

If and when the opportunity to snatch passes from QB Justin Fields comes, Smith (6-0, 179) says he'll be ready.

"I'm going to be excited," he said. "I'm not going to be too high or too low. I'm just going to do what I did today [in practice Wednesday]. Go out there and be in the right place, the right time alignment, see the ball in and just hands inside and make sure I'm blocking, make sure I'm catching the ball all the way in and just doing my job to help the team win. So, I'll be excited if I get my play time. But you know, that's what I guess is why they brought me here. So, I'm just doing what I can to help his team win."

Smith did not catch a pass (on a single target) against Denver last Sunday in London. He did, however, take the field on more than half of the snaps on offense (34 of 57, 60%). Overall this season, Smith has appeared in all 6 games, has 4 catches (from 6 targets) for 24 yards (6.0 per catch) and 1 TD. Assuming Wilson does not play, the WR group will have big shoes to fill. Wilson has garnered 64% of targets to the team's wide receivers so far this season. His 56 targets are four times as many as Reynolds' (12), while among the group No. 5 has 68% of the receiving yards and has scored 80% of the TDs.

For his part, Fields said he has confidence in Smith and his approach.

"Arian, I like his mindset as a player," Fields said. "He's a dog. He has a great mindset. He's fast, of course. He's progressed a lot over the past months from OTAs up until this point, I'm excited for him. It's going to be a game, a big opportunity for him to show what he can do." He added: "Having him in the locker room, having him in the building, he's just a great guy to be around."

As Smith has waited his turn on offense, he has been carving out an important role on special teams. Last Sunday Smith and Kene Nwangwu combined to down a punt deep in Denver territory, and on the next play DE Micheal Clemons was held in the end zone for a 2-point safety by the Jets.

"I was singled up, so I know I had to win," Smith said about the play. "So, I just released inside and got down the field. I saw the returner kind of try to lure me, to sell that he was returning it. I ran past him and got to my fit on the back side of the gunner. I got behind the returner to make sure the ball doesn't go to the end zone. So I just made sure I was in the right spot and just try to catch it. I almost missed it and I tried to hit it back to my guy Kene, and he made a good play on the ball, and we downed it. I was happy for our special chance because we work hard."