“Mazi has shown us everything that we’ve wanted when we took him,” Jones said. “He does need to continue his development. Mazi went in there and got some good snaps [against Buffalo]. We’re gonna need Mazi and we’re gonna need him in the middle there. They’re gonna come at us in the run game in the future.”

In their short time together, Hankins has built a relationship with Smith that has manifested into a student-teacher connection, as the 11th-year run-stopper is encouraged by his effort level on and off the field but realizes there are areas for growth.

“He’s been open to learning and understanding the way I play the game to help out his play,” Hankins said. “Honestly, I think he’s been doing great, an amazing job. Obviously, it’d be nice for him to make a few more plays and more splash plays, but like I told him, the plays will come. Just continue to work, get better and don’t really worry about the outside talk. Let’s just focus on winning games and getting our job done.”

While Hankins didn’t have first-round expectations when he first entered the NFL, he did have the regard of being a second-round selection and the expectation to perform quickly – something he said he didn’t feel like he did to a level he was comfortable with until halfway through his second season.

“When you get first-round guys at those positions, you would like to see them splash out and do the same things they were doing in college,” he said. “To me, I don’t think that’s realistic, especially for me first getting into the league. I wasn’t at this level that I’m at now. All in all, you gotta learn the game and it’ll get better. Everything else will fall into place.”

When Smith was drafted back in April, his s