When Jets rookie Azareye’h Thomas spoke with his brother and Cowboys safety Juanyeh Thomas throughout his first season, Juanyeh’s message always revolved around continuing to stay ready. Continuing to prepare like a starter.
Juanyeh, now in his third year, was a backup, too. And when Dallas safety Malik Hooker landed on injured reserve before Week 5, he made his first start of the season at MetLife Stadium.
So Thomas kept approaching the Jets games the same. The third-round pick in April’s draft encountered small chances to contribute throughout the opening stretch of games, but with star cornerback Sauce Gardner (concussion) ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Bengals, Thomas will make his first career start — a daunting challenge against star Cincinnati receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins — and become tangible evidence of his brother’s message paying off.
Thomas didn’t hesitate Friday. He’s been ready for this since rookie minicamp, since his first days at the Gang Green facility, and “these are the games that you live for to play in.”
The stakes for the Jets — winless through seven games, already spiraling less than half a season into new coach Aaron Glenn’s tenure — are relatively low, but Thomas has encountered a fleeting window of opportunity to make his first true impression with his mother and sister in attendance.
“When I was younger, I used to try to look too far ahead and stuff like that,” Thomas told The Post of what his first snap as a starter might feel like, “and I feel like you give yourself anxiety and stuff like that. So I just really try to stay in the moment and get better at my craft in the moment, and when that [first snap] comes, I’ll take it all in for sure.”
After Gardner exited Sunday, Thomas took 27 snaps and flashed both his potential and the growing pains of being a rookie. With just under five minutes remaining, Thomas twisted around and broke up a pass intended for Panthers receiver Tetairoa McMillan that would’ve resulted in a first down.
But minutes later, on another third down, Thomas got burned by Xavier Legette down the sideline for a 33-yard completion that sealed the game.
That’s the life of a cornerback, Glenn said. “Those things happen,” he added. But Glenn described Thomas as someone who will be a “key cog of what we do as he continues his years of playing.”
It might be difficult for him to carve out a consistent role in a secondary with Gardner (through 2030) and Brandon Stephens (through 2027) both under contract into the future. But Thomas impressed at Florida State and recorded 95 combined tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss and 15 passes defended across three seasons.
After his first season with the Seminoles, Thomas started focusing on the mental side of playing the position, and that helped with his adjustment to the NFL — where the details and the little things matter, he said. He began asking Gardner and Stephens how they watched film, and Thomas realized that he can’t get away with hand-fighting down the field as a defensive back in the NFL.
It forced him to switch his technique, to work at his craft even more. He’s a tall cornerback at 6-foot-1, and when someone is a tall cornerback, Thomas said, “[referees] kinda hone in on that because refs watch film, too.”
There were moments throughout the first seven games where Thomas contributed defensively. When Gardner exited with an injury in Week 3, Thomas logged 10 snaps and broke up the first pass of his career. He has also been on the field for 43 percent of the special teams snaps, and for at least one week, until Gardner exits concussion protocol and returns, Thomas will get a chance to step into an expanded role.
“It’s obviously a great opportunity for him,” Stephens told The Post. “He’s being thrown into the fire against two of the top receivers in this game.”
When Thomas found out he’d be starting, his first call went to his mother, Stephanie Thomas. She’s the one who molded his competitiveness, the type that makes a matchup against Chase and Higgins — who signed contracts worth a combined $276 million this offseason and have produced six combined 1,000-yard seasons — seem exciting instead of daunting.
Thomas said he wants to earn the respect of his teammates and coaches this weekend, and if he ends up having a productive NFL career, Sunday could serve as the first major step toward that point.
“I’m ready,” Thomas said. “I’ve been preparing. And now the two of them meet.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
