EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — On the football field, Anthony Johnson never loses sight of the quarterback. Off the field, he never loses sight of the fact that he’s just a big kid.

When asked Thursday night if he’s sweating Saturday’s final roster cutdown to 53, Johnson said, “Hakuna matata,’’ invoking the Swahili phrase meaning “no worries’’ made popular in “The Lion King.’’

“See, we forget about all those things as kids,’’ said Johnson, who is making a serious charge to land a job in the Patriots’ defensive tackle rotation. “No worries for the rest of your days. Just go out and play football, you know what I mean?

“You’ve got to control the things you can control and let everybody else handle the things that they do.’’

Johnson first burst on the scene in the second preseason game against the Bears, batting down a pass on his first snap and generally wreaking havoc all night. He followed that with a strong performance against the Panthers, and against the Giants he picked up a half-sack, a quarterback pressure, and a fumble recovery.

Coach Bill Belichick has seen steady progress from Johnson since OTAs started.

“Absolutely,’’ said Belichick. “He’s a player we brought in during the spring. He’s performed differently from when we saw him at LSU. He missed time early in camp. We put him into the competition . . . giving him reps on the field.

“He’s contributed positive and productive play. He’s a good kid. He’s tough. He’s had some production and a level of improvement being back out there.’’

The 6-foot-2-inch, 280ish-pound Johnson, who has slimmed down and sped up considerably this summer — he used to play at over 300 pounds — offers a different skill set than New England’s other defensive tackles.

He relies on quickness and closing speed rather than size and strength. That may give him the edge over Markus Kuhn in a bid to join rookie Vincent Valentine in the second interior pairing after starters Alan Branch and Malcom Brown. Johnson’s relentless style would fit perfectly in pass-rushing sub packages.

“At the end of the day, if you’re the type of player and you play a certain way, the coach is going to look for you to play that way,’’ said Johnson. “That’s what I’m going to try to do.

“I’m not going to try to do anything special. I’m not going to try to do anything amazing. I’m just going to try to be out there and be a bat out of hell, as I like to say. Just go out there and play football.’’

No worries.

Bark and bite

Maybe it’s the honeymoon period, but Barkevious Mingo looked promising in his Patriots debut.

Mingo had six tackles, one for a loss, and two quarterback hits. He also strip-sacked Giants quarterback Ryan Nassib, forcing a fumble, but the play was negated by a penalty.

It seems like his cram session with the playbook (Belichick said Mingo has “lived in the facility’’ since he joined the Patriots) has paid off. Mingo handled his assignments well and was comfortable enough within the defense to make the right adjustments pre-snap.

Mingo’s strip-sack came after he’d adjusted, sliding to the opposite side of the defensive line, before the play began.

“I think he handled things from an assignment standpoint well,’’ Belichick said. “There weren’t a lot of issues with that. I’d say overall defensively that’s something that we need to really understand how important it is and how we need to do it from a process standpoint.’’

Quick thinking

Belichick offered a little football lesson when asked about D.J. Foster’s assignment on the Patriots’ 2-point conversion attempt in the first quarter. Foster wasn’t central to the play but might have had an opportunity to release, instead of acting as a pass blocker, giving Tom Brady another option on the failed attempt, an incompletion to Chris Hogan.

“Say the back is supposed to run a route and his linebacker doesn’t come so he starts to run his route, and in doing that, he sees a free rusher coming that’s not his guy,’’ said Belichick. “Well, just instinctively, backs, they just know to block those guys. There is no sense in going out for a route if the guy is going to run in there and hit the quarterback.

“Again, those are kind of things that come with experience and those are quick decisions that backs have to make because it’s not really their man. Technically, they’d be right to just ignore him and go on, but in terms of having a successful play, that’s not always the best thing to do.’’

Factoring it all in

In a conference call Friday morning, Belichick said trades, depth, and youth will factor into his decision-making for the final cuts

“We communicate with lots of teams,’’ Belichick said. “[A trade] all depends on how those conversations go. There’s a lot of moving parts and a process to work through. Everybody is trying to position themselves for the season.’’

The coaching staff will focus on areas where depth will be needed the most.

“Sixteen games, that’s a lot of football, and you need a lot of depth to get through those 16 games, but you don’t know exactly where you’re going to need it,’’ Belichick said.

“It’s one big balancing act, and you know you’re going to have a team next year, so do you want to keep a player this year but you’re really looking at where he’s going to be next year?’’

Depth often will come from the younger corps of players who have shown improvement in practice, such as defensive end Trey Flowers.

“There are several players there that, from their rookie year to their second year, weren’t really factors on the roster a year ago, but are very much in the competition this year,’’ Belichick said.

“It’s always hard to leave that veteran experience for a little bit of an unknown, but the lifeline of this league and the lifeline of every team is young, developing players. You can’t build a team without them, so they’re an important part of it.’’

Steady as he goesJacoby Brissett continued his solid summer Thursday night. Despite often getting limited snaps in practice, the rookie quarterback has shown poise and presence and has largely avoided big mistakes. Playing the entire second half against the Giants, the third-round pick out of North Carolina State completed 13 of 21 passes for 152 yards. “He’s made steady progress for us,’’ said Belichick.

Jim McBride can be reached at james.mcbride@globe.com. Nora Princiotti can be reached at nora.princiotti@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @NoraPrinciotti.