FOXBORO — With five highly talented defensive linemen in front of him on the depth chart, it’s not often that Le Kevin Smith gets on the field with the Patriots’ defense. But the good-natured second-year player has made big strides this season and has played in all eight games, compared to just three when he was a rookie sixth-round pick out of Nebraska last year.

Smith, who is being groomed as a nose tackle but had some nice plays as a defensive end in the exhibition season, has gotten some snaps on the D-line this year, and against the Redskins, he was tied for the team lead with two special-teams tackles.

But Smith has some interesting talents outside of football. At 6-foot-3, 308 pounds, he can complete a backflip, a holdover from his younger days when he says having backflip contests was the thing to do in his Macon, Ga., neighborhood. He used to be able to complete three or four in a row. He’s also a sketch artist, though he tends more toward still-lifes than portraits.

More of this week’s Up Close:

My first car: A 1982 Chevy Celebrity.

My favorite off-day activity: Just relaxing, doing a lot of nothing. I don’t plan them, I just roll with what’s there.

If I wasn’t in the NFL: I’d be working for some construction company. That’s what I majored in (Smith graduated a semester early with a degree in construction management). I’d be in the office somewhere.

If I was NFL commissioner for a day: I’d up the salary cap and guarantee the money.

My hero: My grandmother (Irma) is a hero. She’s meant a lot to me.

One job I’d never want: I don’t think septic tanks would be that much fun.

My guilty pleasure: Hershey’s with almonds. Regular size, not king size. (Why not king size?) It’s too much chocolate, not enough almonds.

—SHALISE MANZA YOUNG