The Sports Xchange

The New York Jets on Thursday signed third-round linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin, fourth-round quarterback Bryce Petty and seventh-round defensive tackle Deon Simon.

They join fifth-round defensive tackle Jarvis Harrison, who signed Wednesday night, as the first draft choices to sign with the Jets.

Mauldin, a 6-foot-4, 259-pound pass rusher, recorded 16 sacks over the past two years at Louisville.

“As an edge rush guy, I have been working my butt off to do what I have to do to get to the quarterback,” he said. “I don’t care what I have to do, I take coaching and I take what I have to do to help my defense out.”

New coach Todd Bowles said, “He’s a hybrid. In certain defenses, he’ll be up and in certain he’ll be down. He brings a level of toughness and depth to a position on the outside, some youth that we can get in and help out our older guys. Eventually we see this guy playing a lot of good football. The tenacity this guy plays with and the toughness he brings, he was perfect for us right at the time we took him.”

The Jets moved up one spot with the Jacksonville Jaguars near the top of the fourth round to draft Petty, who threw for 300 yards 16 times for Baylor the past two years.

Petty could push incumbent QB Geno Smith and veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick for the starting job.

Simon, who is 6-4 and 332 pounds, started 19 games at Northwestern State (La.) the past two seasons, recording 5.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss.