Last year at this time Xavier Gipson walked into a meeting at One Jets Drive with GM Joe Douglas and HC Robert Saleh as an undrafted free agent out of Stephen F. Austin and then floated out of the meeting as a member of the New York Jets' 53-man regular season roster.

"You did a lot of good things at this camp and we appreciate your hard work," Douglas said in a video clip that was part of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” show. "Just want to let you know, you're a New York Jet."

Gipson laughed, bowed his head, laughed again and said: "You scared me. Appreciate it man. I had a long 20-minute drive in."

He shook Douglas' hand and then Saleh's, who said: "You're going to do a lot of good things for us this year. You've got something to you."

Those "good things" began the Week 1, Monday night game against visiting Buffalo. After the air went out of MetLife Stadium when quarterback Aaron Rodgers went down with a torn Achilles tendon four plays into the Jets' first series, Gipson put a huge exclamation point on the game when he returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown in overtime for the victory.

This year "X," as he's universally referred to around the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center, can be confident of his place on the team -- as a wide receiver and special teams demon -- during his 20-minute drives to Florham Park.

"It's kind of crazy because I had a similar feeling I'm having every year in the NFL," Gipson, 23, told team reporter Ethan Greenberg on Tuesday as the team was preparing to unveil its 53-man regular-season roster on the league's cut-down day. "So, it's kind of crazy having a feeling, even though people say I'm good, but I still got the same mindset of coming in, still trying to earn a spot. It's kind of crazy."

He added: "I feel like I was here yesterday."

Gipson (5-9, 189) appeared in all 17 games last season. As a receiver, he caught 21 passes (on 38 targets) for 229 yards (10.9 a catch). He also ran the ball 8 times for 68 yards including a 9-yard TD in the Jets' 30-6 win over Houston in Week 14. But it was on special teams that Gipson made his most significant impact -- 33 punt returns for 319 yards (9.7 per) and 22 kickoff returns for 511 yards (23.2 per).

And although he did not return a punt or kickoff in the recently completed preseason, he said he's excited to get a shot at returning a kickoff under the league's new "dynamic" scheme.

"I feel like I learned a lot from last year from the kickoff perspective," he said. "It's a little bit different this year, so I'm pumped to see what's in store with the new kickoff return."

Asked what he thinks he'll bring to the play, Gipson said: "My speed and my quickness. Just to try and hit the holes as fast as I can get positive plus-40, plus-50, maybe hopefully a touchdown, you know, and live with it."