CORTLAND — Aaron Maybin is the definition of a high-energy player.
The outside linebacker never stops moving on the field, which has already resulted in him making several plays behind the line of scrimmage during the first week of training camp. That effort level is something his coaches have noticed.
“It’s so good for the rest of the guys to have a guy like that,” defensive coordinator Mike Pettine said. “We had a play the other night watching the tape where I was like, ‘I’m giving everybody else on the defense a minus.’
“He embarrassed everybody else with how fast he was moving.”
Maybin’s speed off the edge allowed the former first-round pick by the Bills to make an immediate impact upon joining the Jets last season. He finished the season with six sacks in 13 games, after failing to get a single one during his three-year tenure in Buffalo.
Now Maybin is hoping to build on that success this season, and is shooting to finish the year with double-digit sacks.
“I have the talent and I’m on the right team, plain and simple,” Maybin said. “Now it’s a matter of going out and proving it.”
In addition to his goal of increasing his sack totals, Maybin also has been given some additional responsibilities during training camp. In another attempt to utilize Maybin’s speed and athleticism, special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff has been using Maybin as a gunner in punt coverage.
“Truthfully, I always wanted to try it,” Maybin said, “but I wanted somebody else to see it first. It’s kind of an arrogant thing to go out and say, ‘Look, I can play gunner.’
“The way I go out in practice, I show my skill set every day. Eventually, Coach Westhoff was able to come up to me and say, ‘Why don’t we try you out at gunner?’ We feel like it’s a pretty good move.”
Maybin had actually been trying to bulk up in the offseason, getting to as high as 254 pounds before the Jets told him not to add any more.
“The way I play the game, I use a lot of energy,” he said. “I’m a high-motor guy. “You’re not gonna be carrying around 260, 270 pounds to be able to play like I do.”
To play like Maybin does — always flying toward the ball — it can lead to running yourself into some mistakes. But Pettine thinks that the reward of Maybin’s hustling outweighs any risks that may come along with them.
“You don’t want to coach that out of him,” Pettine said. “To me, the good will outweigh the bad. If he’s not getting production, he’s going to cause it.
“He’ll force a quarterback to step up, force the ball to come down. Somebody else might end up making the play but his presence will cause it.”
— Additional reporting by Brian Costello
tbontemps@nypost.com