FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — David Bailey gave coach Aaron Glenn a small dose of nostalgia when he took the practice field for the first time with the New York Jets.
The No. 2 pick in the NFL draft is wearing
No. 31 — the same jersey number Glenn wore while playing eight seasons with the Jets.
“I really didn't notice that until he picked it here,” a smiling Glenn said Friday after the Jets' first rookie minicamp practice. “He has to show out, I guess, with that number."
The Jets are banking on that.
Bailey was the highest-selected defensive player taken in the NFL draft by the franchise after a breakout season at Texas Tech. Considered by many the most pro-ready edge rusher in the draft, the 22-year-old Bailey signed his rookie deal — a four-year contract worth about $54.7 million, fully guaranteed — earlier in the day.
After Bailey flew to New Jersey from Pittsburgh the day after the draft two weeks ago, Glenn provided some proof that he and his new pass rusher have something in common.
“I was with my mom and my sister and we were just sitting there in his office and he actually told me,” Bailey said. “He showed me like a little poster board of his jersey.”
Glenn was the Jets' first-round pick — No. 12 overall — in 1994 out of Texas A&M. The three-time Pro Bowl cornerback wore No. 31 for all but two seasons — when he was No. 26 in Dallas — of his 15-year NFL career, which also included stops in Houston, Jacksonville and New Orleans.
Bailey has been wearing No. 31 for most of his football life, too. He sported the number during his prep days at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. Bailey switched to No. 23 when he arrived at Stanford in 2022 because cornerback Zahran Manley, a senior, was wearing No. 31 for the Cardinal. Bailey stayed with No. 23 the following season when freshman cornerback Aaron Morris arrived and took over No. 31.
But when Bailey transferred to Texas Tech before last season, he was back in his familiar jersey digits.
A reporter jokingly asked Glenn if Bailey, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 251 pounds, has to “fill out the uniform” — as opposed to say, the way the 5-9, 185-pound former cornerback did in his playing days.
“I don't think he'll have a problem filling out the uniform,” Glenn said with a big grin. “He'll be just fine in that.”
Bailey certainly was last year at Texas Tech, when he had 14 1/2 sacks — his combined total in three seasons at Stanford — with 52 tackles, 19 1/2 tackles and three forced fumbles, all on strip sacks. Glenn said Bailey will be used as an outside linebacker in the Jets' base defense, at defensive end in other situations and be moved around in pass rushing situations.
“He's a very intelligent man,” Glenn said. “He's going to be an exciting guy to coach, I will tell you that.”
Having the same jersey number as your coach is one thing, but cornerback D'Angelo Ponds drew immediate comparisons to Glenn when he was drafted by the Jets in the second round for his skills, style and stature.
The 5-8, 182-pound Ponds was a physical ballhawk at Indiana and the TV broadcast used Glenn as a player comparison when Pro Football Hall of Famer Curtis Martin announced the pick for the Jets. In a video from the draft room shared by the team, Glenn was seen smiling at the mention.
“It makes me proud that when people see him and they say (that),” the coach said. “I mean, I wish people looked at me and said I played like him because, heck, he’s a damn good player.”
Ponds, who had five interceptions — including two returned for touchdowns — in two seasons at Indiana, could see significant playing time as a rookie in the Jets' secondary as a potential nickel cornerback.
“I'm my own person," Ponds said of the comparisons to Glenn. "And I'm just trying to make a name for myself.”
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