Jets WR Omar Cooper Jr. stayed at home in Indiana in 2022 to play football for a Hoosiers team that was an afterthought in the Big Ten Conference after a pair of losing seasons. Cooper could have taken to the transfer portal and said goodbye to Bloomington. But instead, enter HC Curt Cignetti in 2024.

In his junior season, Cooper played in 13 games as Indiana finished 11-2. We all know what happened last season when the Hoosiers improbably won the national championship with Cooper catching 69 balls for 937 yards (16.7 per; and 7.2 yards after catch) and 13 TDs from QB Fernando Mendoza. They were each first-round selections in April's NFL Draft -- Mendoza going No. 1 overall to Las Vegas and Cooper landing with the Jets at No. 30 when the team traded back into the opening round.

Now, finally back after missing four games because of an ankle injury sustained on his lone, 30-yard catch-and-run reception in the Jets' Week 1 win at Tennessee, Cooper has a unique perspective looking back at Indiana and ahead to what he expects to be a long and productive career on an emerging Jets team.

"Just being able to experience that at IU and just knowing that feeling when I was a part of being able to change the culture, and I feel like AG [Jets HC Aaron Glenn] has been doing a really good job, and we're on the right track," Cooper, 22, said after a midweek practice ahead of Sunday's AFC East clash with Miami at MetLife Stadium. "We just got to, as a team, as a unit, get over that hump. And I feel like once we do that we'll be able to see just how special we can be. But just being able to be a part of that culture it'll be really cool, and I feel like we got the right guys to be able to do it."

Cooper is among a cadre of young talent added in the draft, a group that includes three first-rounders -- edge David Bailey (No. 2 overall), TE Kenyon Sadiq (No. 16) and Cooper, plus DB D'Angelo Ponds (No. 50) and DT Darrell Jackson Jr., No. 103) who are already making contributions.

"All of the rookies are contributing even if it's on the scout team," Cooper said. "I mean you help the offense or defense and I would say that this rookie class is really close. We have rookie meetings every Monday or every other Monday, and we always enjoy that time, laughing, talking and even outside of that... We've been really close so far and we're excited to see what we can end up doing here."

If his performance in last week's loss at New England was an impressive, then the Jets' offense under OC Frank Reich has another arrow in its quiver at wide receiver to go along with Garrett Wilson, Adonai Mitchell, Tim Patrick and the team's trio of competent tight ends -- Sadiq, Mason Taylor and Jeremy Ruckert.

In the game's opening series last week, the Jets put together a 13-play, 48-yard drive that took 6:43 off the clock, but had to settle for Jason Sanders' 42-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead. An offensive pass interference penalty erased QB Geno Smith's 14-yard TD pass to Cooper.

"I mean, it sucks, but it's football," said Cooper after his 6 receptions on 7 targets for 103 yards (17.2 per). Cooper became just the third Jet in franchise history since the merger to record a 100-yard receiving game in just his second career game, joining Derrick Gafney (1978) and Garrett Wilson (2022).

He added: "I figured the first catch I had, a touchdown they called back. That kind of just gave me a little bit more confidence, even though it didn't count. But it just made me realize, 'OK, you got tackled, you caught the ball, you good.' So now it's time to get ready."

And he was ready when Smith rolled to his right and launched a third-quarter pass his way for a 48-yard TD ... that one counted.

"I just had like a post, Garrett had a deep out on the other side," Cooper said. "And my job was to stand inside, get very cool, cross the safety space, I got a little cool outside across the space, and just look up and hope that Geno was able to recognize it."

He said he didn't realize he had gone over 100 yards in the game, but was thankful and relieved that he got through his first complete game in the NFL unscathed.

"Everything felt good, OK, it's your first real game that you fully played and your body's good," he said.