Bailey Turns On the Pressure
Jets top rookie draft choice David Bailey has gotten off to a strong start in his first two games as a pro. Rushing mostly off the defense’s left edge, Bailey has notched his first two sacks, one of the Titans’ Cam Ward and one of the Packers’ Jordan Love, for one yard each, and is tied with Kingsley Enagbare for the team sack lead. He also notched his first forced fumble, punching the ball loose from TE Tucker Kraft after a catch.
NextGen Stats graded Bailey with 6 QB pressures at Tennessee and 5 vs. Green Bay. He thus becomes the second player in the NGS era (since 2016) to register 5-plus pressures in each of his first two career games, and the first since the Chargers’ Joey Bosa did it in ’16.
Eight Straight for AZ
CB Azareye’h Thomas has begun his second Jets and NFL season the same way he ended his first — by breaking up passes. Thomas defensed a deep sideline pass by Cam Ward in the opening-day win at Tennessee, and “AZ” came back with a breakup of a shorter third-down throw by Jordan Love to force a first-quarter punt vs. the Packers.
Those two PDs go with the six, one in each game, that he ended his rookie season with before being placed on Injured Reserve for the final 4 games. His eight games in a row with a pass defense is the longest active streak in the NFL and is tied with two big names in franchise history for the longest streak by a Jet since 2000 — Glenn, the current HC who had his 8-game streak in 2001, and Hall of Fame CB Darrelle Revis, who matched that in 2007-08.