The competition at safety in the Jets' starting backfield to play in tandem with veteran Minkah Fitzpatrick was one of the battles in the spotlight during training camp. Dane Belton was named the Week 1 starter next to Fitzpatrick.

The thing is Belton, 25, was primed to share the position with Fitzpatrick, but the veteran played 6 snaps on the Titans' opening drive last Sunday before sustaining a groin injury that will likely cause him to miss some time. So, Belton, who signed in free agency from the Giants, stepped into the vacuum, playing all 50 snaps on defense in the victory.

"He's been huge," Belton said on Thursday about Fitzpatrick's influence and counsel. "He's definitely one of the bigger vets I've had in my career. A guy like that who has made plays across different teams [Miami, Pittsburgh and Miami again], different positions. It's definitely awesome to kind of pick his brain and have him in the room, and it definitely helps build my understanding of the game and coverages. It's been big."

Belton (6-1, 205) played four seasons with the Giants after the team selected him in Round 4 (No. 114 overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft after three seasons at Iowa. Last season, he had the second-most tackles (120) for the Giants while taking a career-high 705 snaps (63%) playing safety and an additional 306 (70%) as a hard-hitting demon on special teams.

"He knows what to do, and he knows how to do it," HC Aaron Glenn said during training camp. "He's a ball magnet, and he's damn good on special teams, so there's a real value to that player."

On Wednesday, Glenn said he's put his trust in Belton to organize the DBs, and help a group that includes Andre Cisco, Malachi Moore, Jarvis Brownlee Jr. and D'Angelo Ponds, who has been limited by injury through training camp.

"I think it shows just how smart of a player he is," DC Brian Duker said Thursday. "That's probably a little bit underrated. He knows multiple positions on the defense and could easily plug and play with a limited number of reps at a position, which is really impressive."

The Packers will present a different, more established challenge to the Jets' defense and particularly the DBs in the person of QB Jordan Love. Love led Green Bay (0-1) to 22 first-half points last week at Minnesota, but the Packers imploded in the second half in the 39-22 loss. Love threw for 387 yards and 2 TDs while WR Christian Watson caught 6 passes for 147 yards and Matthew Golden also had 6 receptions, for 95 yards. Green Bay, however, ran the ball behind an injury-hit O-line only 21 times for 66 yards.

"They have really good skill positions, good skill players, a really good quarterback, really good veteran quarterback who understands defenses and has seen a lot of ball and can definitely put the ball exactly where he wants it to go," Belton said. "So, I feel like the challenge is that they can spread the ball around. They have guys all over. They have a quarterback. They can get the ball to anybody. And for us, it's about controlling the tempo of the game. Trying to get us in advantageous situations and go from there."

Regardless of where he ends up in the fluid situation, with Glenn calling the plays for the defense, Belton said he's confident in his ability and experience.

"I played primarily in the nickel, played in the box a lot, so it was definitely something I'm comfortable with, and that's something they see in me and they've talked to me early on," Belton said. "Just being able to have my versatility and understand that even if it's not in the game plan for me to be in that position that week, every week I'm understanding different positions."