Jowon Briggs has a smile that can light up the Jets' defensive line meeting room and an adage for every occasion.

For instance, the 6-1, 313-pound interior lineman said after Thursday's second training camp practice that even though he arrived late last August in a trade with Cleveland, he's still not comfortable in his green and white color scheme.

"I'm the type of person where I'm in a growth mindset," Briggs explained. "The minute you feel comfortable is the minute you feel complacent."

But of course, he was only referring to his inner game of football in the trenches, not his teammates, whom he has embraced and says he's "a lot more comfortable cracking jokes and everything" with them. And that includes the new players who arrived this offseason. The Jets traded for the even bigger T'Vondre Sweat (6-4, 366), added 10-year run stuffer David Onyemata in free agency, drafted Darrell Jackson Jr. (6-5, 315) in Round 4, and added them to Briggs, fellow widebodies Harrison Phillips and Mazi Smith, and more.

Let's not get too overheated on the first week of camp, but Briggs likes what he sees at his position.

"The sky's the limit," he said. "I'm a big proponent of pursue excellence and then you fall to greatness. And that's kind of how we feel in that room. There's so many different guys that bring so many different things, including myself. So it's nothing but excitement there for us."

Is it humble-brag for Briggs to include himself as part of the excitement? Heck, no. He was an eye-opening addition to the Jets' interior defense, checking at second on the defense with 4 sacks and 10 QB hits — with a team-best 6-game streak of at least 1 QBH — and also at No. 2 on the team with an unofficial 8.5 tackles for loss/no gain.

"For me it's just a matter of working toward a goal every day on a personal level, pursuing that goal," he said. "You hit that goal? Great. You work towards another one. You don't hit that one that day? Not so great, but you learn something, why you didn't hit that goal. That's kind of how I approach every day, how i approach every meeting. I'm really big on not falling into that comfortable aspect of it."

Yet Briggs is clearly comfy with his coaches. He describes HC Aaron Glenn, who is  concentrating more on coordinating the defense, as being "passionate" and "focused." And he is impressed with DC Brian Duker and longtime DL coach Karl Dunbar: "It's kind of like everybody is focused toward pursuing that excellence, and that's something that's permeating throughout the whole team."

During his media stop, Briggs offered no hint of any chip on his shoulder about getting traded by the Browns for a seventh-round pick (the Jets also gave up a sixth-rounder in the deal). In fact, he has an enlightened approach to the NFL's often swap-meet mentality, and one more Briggsian axiom to explain his perspective.

"You've got guys like Myles Garrett getting traded to the Rams or whatever," he said of his former Cleveland linemate heading to the West Coast in a monster June transaction. "Anybody can get traded. That's the excitement in the league. You know, it adds that fire underneath your belly to keep going out there, not being complacent, continuing to work, so you can prove that you have a spot on the club you're at.

"That's really big for me."