For Markus Bailey, the recent NFL Combine in Indianapolis offered a chance to audition for a job. And, he was pleased overall with how he performed.

The former Purdue linebacker didn’t take part in on-field drills, as he still hadn’t been cleared by doctors after undergoing surgery on his right knee on October 1, 2019. But Bailey went through medical and psychological exams, as well as myriad interviews. The one physical activity he took part in was the bench press. And Bailey wasn’t pleased.

“I will re-do that at Pro Day (April 2 at Purdue)," said Bailey. "Fifteen was my official number (of reps with 225 pounds). I had been hitting 18 in training weeks before, and my goal was to at least hit 20. So, I’m not really sure what all went into me not being able to get my goal. But other than that, I think I did well at the Combine."

The 6-1, 240-pound Bailey enjoyed a good career in West Lafayette. He started 40 games and tallied 327 tackles with 28 TFLs and 13.5 sacks while in West Lafayette. Bailey also picked off six passes in 45 career games after arriving at Purdue in 2015 from Davidson High in Hilliard, Ohio. Now, Bailey hopes to be playing on Sundays. And the Combine--where teammate Brycen Hopkins also worked out--was part of process.

“I got (to the Combine) Tuesday," said Bailey. "Tuesday and Wednesday night from 8-11 p.m., we had what they call informal interviews. It is setup like speed dating. It’s madness in there. It’s crazy how everyone is running back and forth. There is so much ambient noise going on.”

Bailey says each team had a table in a large room. And teams would have runners grab players and take them to their table to talk. The questions ranged from football roles in high school to childhood upbringing.

“We all have our numbers on our jerseys and credentials,” said Bailey. “Mine was LB02. They will see my number and say, ‘Hey Markus, we need to meet you over here.' The Chiefs met with me first. It was their defensive coordinator. You meet for 15 minutes and a horn goes off and you have to get up and a runner for another team will grab you. That happens for three hours straight. The first night, I probably met with 12-15 teams. I think I met with most of the teams, probably 20-25 teams.”

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Bailey also was scrutinized physically by medical personnel which wanted to examine his knees. His 2019 season ended after two games with a right knee injury suffered in practice. Bailey hurt his left knee as a freshman in 2015. Both knees have been operated on.

“On Wednesday, they had the general measurements where they did your hand, arm, wingspan ... up on the stage in front of scouts,” said Bailey.

There were X-rays, blood work, EKGs, lab work …

“Then, you had six or seven orthopedics rooms you had to go into,” said Bailey. “When you went in, someone would greet you and talk to you about your general medical history and do a physical and then go into your surgery history. Then, you would go to this middle table where all of these team doctors would come up and look at you.

“I had two knee surgeries, so in my case, they were messing with my knees, the hip a little bit. Check your shoulders, spine and that kind of stuff. They were really cranking on my (right) knee a lot because I just had surgery on it and wanted to make sure it was fine.”

Then, there were the psychological and mental tests, including the famous Wonderlic exam.

“I don’t know what my score was,” said Bailey. “I hope I got a good score. I felt like I did pretty good. They changed the entire format this year. A lot of guys at their training facility will get access to previous Wonderlics. The one we took at the Combine was completely different than anything I had practiced. It was the same kind of questions and concepts. It’s essentially simple math, reasoning and vocabulary. It’s 50 multiple-choice questions and you have 12 minutes. I got through 48 of them. I’ve gotten (a score) in the 40s on my practice ones. I hope I at least got 40. Anything over 30 is really good.”

Bailey also had a formal interview with the Baltimore Ravens.

“I went to their suite,” said Bailey. “I thought there would be 10-15 coaches in there, but there were 30-40 people in there. … You sit in the front of the room. They have your name plastered on a projector and they have you on camera. They ask your family history questions again, how you grew up ...

“After that, they put on film from Vanderbilt and Nevada (2019 Purdue opponents). There were like six to eight different plays we went through. I had to talk about the call, my assignment, the assignment of players around me. … There were specific things they were looking for, more zone coverage stuff and seeing how you can break on the ball. Some of the runs they showed showed me being able to read quickly and react quickly.”

Then, there were the psychological tests to evaluate processing and cognitive ability. Bailey says there were seven different tests he described as “Brain Game-type tests” that he took on a computer. Each was an hour long.

“I wasn’t asked anything crazy,” said Bailey. “But one trick question they asked was: If we drafted you and had you in camp, why would we cut you? The answer I gave was the right one: You wouldn’t cut me. But some guys actually give reasons. They try to get you to show your weaknesses or faults. You have to answer the questions how they want you to.”

Bailey has been training at the Fischer Institute in Phoenix. He recently was cleared to do football specific drills and will be back next month in West Lafayette for Purdue's Pro Day.

“I have been back to doing my full movement, change of direction, react-to stuff,” said Bailey. “Trying to get ready for Pro Day now. There will be an acclamation period, but overall, I am feeling great.”

At Purdue’s Pro Day, Bailey will bench and perform the six drills the linebackers were asked to do at the Combine that Bailey was unable to do while in Indianapolis. He also may do a vertical leap. But he won’t run a 40-yard dash.

“I want to put my training focus on playing football instead of training for the 40,” said Bailey. “That’s a whole different training program. I won’t run a 40 unless a team says I have to. Everything I have heard from my agent and what teams have said is I just need to be ready to play football and show I can still move around.”

Bailey also anticipates being invited to NFL facilities for more medical exams. Then, he’ll wait for the draft, which is April 23-25 in Las Vegas. Doe he think he’ll get selected?

“Yes,” said Bailey. “I would hope to be able to go at the end of the third round. That probably would be my ceiling. It all depends on how the MRIs (taken at the Combine) look ... There were certain teams that seemed more interested than others.”

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