The New York Jets brought back Jaylen Key for the second time this season by signing the safety for their practice squad, the NFL team announced on Wednesday.
The Jets have new leadership, with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich now the team’s interim head coach after New York fired Robert Saleh on Tuesday.
Key originally joined the Jets from Alabama as the 257th selection in the NFL Draft on April 27. As the final pick in the draft, Key became 2024’s Mr. Irrelevant, and he was feted this summer during Irrelevant Week in Newport Beach, California.
Key returned to the Jets for a busy training camp and preseason. With New York’s starting defense sitting out the preseason schedule, Key started all three games at safety, played 132 defensive snaps and made 11 tackles.
But Key did not survive the cut when the Jets reduced their preseason roster to the regular-season limit on Aug. 27. But New York brought him back to the roster as a member of the practice squad.
Key spent the first three weeks of the season on the practice squad without playing in a game.
On Sept. 25, the Jets released Key to add eight-year NFL veteran safety Jalen Mills to the practice squad.
Each NFL team can carry a 16-player practice squad. The members of the practice squad do everything that the members of the active roster do except play in games, with one exception. Each team can elevate two practice-squad members to active status for each game, making them eligible to play.
Before playing for Alabama in 2023, Key spent five years at UAB and played in four seasons.
