It is much too soon to be chiseling any opinions about the Jets' draft class in stone.
But David Bailey, on his first day of Green & White rookie minicamp, looks and sounds like the real deal.
"It's a blessing, honestly, man," Bailey, the Jets' second overall pick of the recent draft, told reporters Friday about getting back to football after all the training he and his fellow draftmates went through for their predraft song-and-dance. "I had a great experience with the combine and everything, but the main thing is I'm a football player. That's what I want to do is just get back to playing football. It's been a lot of fun getting out here and putting on my helmet for a long time."
Before Bailey slipped into his new green hat, he started the day with some paperwork, signing his rookie contract before going out to practice at the Atlantic Health Training Center. He was only a half-day behind first-round TE Kenyon Sadiq, who signed his rookie pact Thursday night. Still, Bailey checks in, at 16 days, with the third-quickest time in the last decade from the day a Jets top pick was drafted to the day he signed on the dotted line. (CB Sauce Gardner signed in 10 days in 2022, T Armand Membou in 15 days last spring.)
Then the draft's best edge rusher took to the field. These are not the days for Bailey to unveil his trademark bull slip, ghost and spin pass rush moves but for getting his feet wet as a Jet and soaking up a whole new playbook and mentality less than a year after leaving Texas Tech.
"Right now, number one is to build a great relationship with my position coach and Coach Glenn and everybody," he said. "Then start honing in on the playbook, absorbing as much information as I can, getting as comfortable with it as I can so I can just be focusing in on things and making sure the plays are coming second-nature."