Good thing that Jets left tackle Tyron Smith isn't paid by the word.

"I'm not a rah-rah type dude," Smith said following Saturday's open practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. "I don't yell or hype anybody up."

One person he doesn't have to hype up, in a good way of course, is himself. Smith's reputation has preceded him from his 13 seasons with the Cowboys to his first year with the Green & White. His deeds bring in the big bucks.

"Everyone acknowledges Tyron's one of the premier tackles in this game," head coach Robert Saleh said. "He's elite athletically, he's powerful and he's got elite measurables."

The athletic part is self-evident, whether the 6-5, 320-pounder is throwing plates around in the Jets' weightroom or when he's on the field, even for these unpadded practices at the start of training camp, expertly protecting the blindside for QBs Aaron Rodgers.

"With Aaron, it's fun. You can feel the experience when you're on the field with him," Smith said, adding about his and the O-line's task this year, "The urgency with any quarterback you have back there, you want to play to the best of your ability to proetct him. That's what we're going to do every day."

It's easier than ever but still fairly hard to find meaningful offensive line statistics. One metric that speaks to Smith's greatness is his rep among NFL players, coaches and fans, since he's been voted a Pro Bowl player eight times (five times as an NFC starter and three DNPs) in the past nine seasons.

But there is no metric, just anecdotes about another All-Pro aspect to Smith's game, and that's his abilty and willingness to pass on his knowledge to his teammates.

"He's definitely a very quiet guy," guard Alijah Vera-Tucker said. "But if something needs to be said, he's going to say it. If we need to pick it up, he's going to say it. And he's always giving advice to younger guys. I've seen when he talked to Olu [Fashanu, the Jets' first-round rookie tackle] and Olu applied that to his game. So whenever he talks, you listen."

"I love the fact that he's so open and willing to talk to the young guys, and to do it while he's actually practicing," Saleh said. "Yesterday I was giving Carter Warren a piece of advice, and then we got into this discussion abuot what Tyron's been helping him out with. They're trying new things, they're trying to listen to what he's got to offer.

"He's just got a reputation of being an elite athlete and human."

A big obstacle for Smith to clear with the Jets is health, which for the past eight sesaons has limited his excellence to an average of 10.3 games and starts per season, with no more than 13 starts in any one of those seasons. But the Cowboys had ways to keep him fresh and Saleh and the Jets do as well, such as rest days, one of which Smith took Friday before returning to the offense for Saturday's practice.

"He possesses everything you want as a coach. He wants to work, he loves the work, he loves the grind, he's smart," Saleh said. "It's our job to do our best to help him get through a 20-game season and go from there."

And if Smith can put together that full regular season plus three or four desired postseason games, can he still be among the best tackles in the game?

"Yeah," he said, asked if he can still be dominant in deeds if not necessarily in words. "And that's why we're in training camp right now. I'm fine-tuning everything I need to get down right now so I can be great for my teammates."

And that Super Bowl ring is the prize for such greatness.

"That's the goal for everybody," he said. "That's exactly why I'm here right now."