Dane Belton's next man up mentality is something every Jets defender should emulate

One of the most pleasant surprises over the summer for the New York Jets was free agent signing Dane Belton. The former New York Giants safety signed a one-year, $4 million contract in March, and it's starting to feel like that may have been a steal for New York.

Belton quickly separated himself from the likes of Andre Cisco and Malachi Moore in training camp, putting a chokehold on the starting spot opposite Minkah Fitzpatrick. His reputation for having a nose for the football and his sure tackling showed up when the pads came on.

With Week 1 behind us, Belton's role in the Jets' defense has gotten even more important. Fitzpatrick is going to be out for a few weeks dealing with a groin injury, and the secondary is being stretched a little thin. Rookie D'Angelo Ponds' impending return should help, but his inexperience makes him volatile.

But it's Belton who is being tasked with stepping into the key role Fitzpatrick was supposed to play on the back end, and he seems to already be passing that test with flying colors.

Dane Belton stepping up in Minkah Fitzpatrick's role with the New York Jets defense

After Fitzpatrick came out of the game, it was Belton who took over the former All-Pro's role as the leader of the secondary, and perThe Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt. Despite not having much experience with it, Belton routinely checked in with Aaron Glenn throughout the game, making sure he got every detail right.

"In the moment, it was strictly: What’s my job, and how do I need to accomplish it? Especially in the moment, you can’t get too frantic on what-ifs, this and that. If it happened on a Tuesday, maybe there’s more thinking, not to say I wouldn’t be comfortable, but there’d be more thinking involved. But during a game it’s like, how do I accomplish my job?"

Despite a bigger responsibility being thrust upon him on the fly, Belton performed admirably. Pro Football Focus gave him an overall grade of 70.7 for his Week 1 performance, 17th-best out of 72 qualified safeties.

He'll certainly be asked to continue in Fitzpatrick's role while the former Miami Dolphins safety recovers from his groin injury, and his next test will come on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.

If the Jets are going to beat Green Bay, their secondary is going to need to hold up in coverage to allow their pass rush to get home. Belton will once again be asked to help lead that effort on the back end.

With the way injuries happen in the NFL, it's admirable to see Belton embracing a next-man-up mentality. Every player should always be ready to step up when the player in front of them goes down, and Belton seems to be the poster child for it.

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