Smith did not catch a pass (on a single target) against Denver last Sunday in London. He did, however, take the field on more than half of the snaps on offense (34 of 57, 60%). Overall this season, Smith has appeared in all 6 games, has 4 catches (from 6 targets) for 24 yards (6.0 per catch) and 1 TD. Assuming Wilson does not play, the WR group will have big shoes to fill. Wilson has garnered 64% of targets to the team's wide receivers so far this season. His 56 targets are four times as many as Reynolds' (12), while among the group No. 5 has 68% of the receiving yards and has scored 80% of the TDs.
For his part, Fields said he has confidence in Smith and his approach.
"Arian, I like his mindset as a player," Fields said. "He's a dog. He has a great mindset. He's fast, of course. He's progressed a lot over the past months from OTAs up until this point, I'm excited for him. It's going to be a game, a big opportunity for him to show what he can do." He added: "Having him in the locker room, having him in the building, he's just a great guy to be around."
As Smith has waited his turn on offense, he has been carving out an important role on special teams. Last Sunday Smith and Kene Nwangwu combined to down a punt deep in Denver territory, and on the next play DE Micheal Clemons was held in the end zone for a 2-point safety by the Jets.
"I was singled up, so I know I had to win," Smith said about the play. "So, I just released inside and got down the field. I saw the returner kind of try to lure me, to sell that he was returning it. I ran past him and got to my fit on the back side of the gunner. I got behind the returner to make sure the ball doesn't go to the end zone. So I just made sure I was in the right spot and just try to catch it. I almost missed it and I tried to hit it back to my guy Kene, and he made a good play on the ball, and we downed it. I was happy for our special chance because we work hard."