You can forgive Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson if he wakes up screaming while dreaming of the New York Jets’ edge David Bailey.
The Jets rookie defender was a one-man wrecking crew against the Browns in Week 5. He had 3 sacks, 4 quarterback hits, 9 pressures and a handful of tackles for a loss.
The dominating performance has now won Bailey the AFC defensive player of the week award. He is the first rookie since Jean Phillips with at 3.0 sacks and three TFLs in the same game.
The last Jets defensive rookie to win player of the week was Sauce Gardner in 2022.
Bailey now has 5.0 sacks with six tackles for loss and seven QB hits in his rookie season. If he continues to produce, he has a shot at the NFL record for sacks by a first-year player.
The Jets drafted Bailey as the No. 2 overall pick in the April NFL Draft. He had 14.5 sacks in his last year at Texas Tech.
