The Jets made linebacker David Bailey the second pick in the draft because they believed he could make game-changing plays in their defense, but his first four games led to grumbling about his lack of impact.
Bailey had two sacks in those games, but they didn’t stop the Jets from opening the score 1-3. Grumbles will be harder to come by after Bailey’s performance in the team’s fifth game of the year.
Bailey had three sacks of Deshaun Watson in a 17-12 home win and Bailey said after the game that the defense “came together, sat down and came up with a list of things we needed to work on as a whole and individually.” That effort paid off handsomely for Bailey and the Jets on Sunday.
“I always said his time was going to come,” head coach Aaron Glenn said, via a team transcript. “I have all the confidence in him in the world. He did a good job today. He did a good job. There’s some things he needs to work on. For him to come out and have, I think, three sacks, that’s who David is and we expected that.”
Bailey’s performance also led to a change in the betting markets. He’s now the favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year at the sportsbooks and will stay there if Sunday’s performance was a sign of things to come.
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