The past two years, Alijah Vera-Tucker exiting a game with an injury also doubled as the end of his season.
First, it was the ACL.
Then, the Achilles.
Both gutted the Jets’ offensive line, forcing them to adjust without the former first-round pick.
And when paired with other absences, the tweaks usually ended up being anything but seamless.
For the past two weeks, the unit teetered on the brink of spiraling again.
Vera-Tucker, Gang Green’s right guard, missed time with a high-ankle sprain.
Left guard John Simpson (groin) exited with an injury.
So did backup guard Jake Hanson (hamstring).
Olu Fashanu — the Jets’ first-round pick who was supposed to sit and watch and learn during his rookie season before taking over as their left tackle of the future — ended up at right guard against the Texans on Halloween, a position he hadn’t even practiced before.
This was the 2024 rendition of the Jets scrambling and cobbling together combinations on the fly.
It set the stage for a recent stretch filled with uncertainty as statuses settled into place.
But their extended break after a “Thursday Night Football” win has proven beneficial: Vera-Tucker, Simpson and Morgan Moses were all full participants in practice Friday, and head coach Jeff Ulbrich expected the trio all to play against the Cardinals.
So for the first time since Week 7 and for just the sixth time this season, quarterback Aaron Rodgers will be protected by his top collection of linemen — with the offense already entering with some mojo after erupting for 21 points in the second half of the Houston win.
“It’s huge,” Ulbrich said after practice Friday. “All five offensive linemen plus Aaron feeling the best he’s felt in a long time from a mobility standpoint, so excited about both of those things.”
At the very least, the Jets will have some continuity with their offensive line.
They’ll have Rodgers — a self-described “jackrabbit” this week with his energy — entering off his best drives of the season.
They’ll have Garrett Wilson, who leads the NFL with 94 targets, pairing with Davante Adams, whose eight years of chemistry with Rodgers in Green Bay started to pay dividends against the Texans.
Everything, finally, is positioned to click for Gang Green.
A major part of that revolves around the offensive line, which cycled through 13 different combinations last season. Some linemen shifted around to different positions.
Others, including Vera-Tucker and his Achilles tear, missed time.
The Jets’ season took a major hit when Rodgers tore his Achilles in Week 1, but the constant turmoil with the offensive line didn’t help their trio of backup quarterbacks, either.
They ended up allowing the fourth-most sacks in 2023.
But out of the 13 linemen who logged a snap last year, only six returned for 2024, and only two — Vera-Tucker and center Joe Tippmann — started Week 1.
The Jets brought in a trio of veterans in Simpson, Moses and Tyron Smith to protect Aaron Rodgers, and while Smith has encountered some individual struggles and Moses has played through a Grade 2 MCL tear, a small bone fracture in his knee and meniscus damage while missing only two games, Rodgers has been sacked just 20 times.
They survived the injury chaos against the Texans, too, when Fashanu allowed just two pressures in the first 37 snaps of his career at right guard.
This week, even with the Jets getting healthy up front, Fashanu took reps at both tackle and guard after cross-training at both tackle spots in training camp, Ulbrich said.
“The fact that he can play both gives us such flexibility,” Ulbrich said. “Like when you find guys that are Swiss Army knives like that, it’s just, it’s invaluable because injuries are a part of this deal, especially on the line of scrimmage.”
So in case they need them, the Jets have options. In case they run into an issue such as last Thursday’s dilemma, they can adjust and still allow Rodgers enough time to ignite the offense and spark a win.
They shouldn’t need those break-glass-in-case-of-emergency scenarios at least to start Sunday’s game, though.
For the first time in a while, for Vera-Tucker and the rest of the Jets’ offensive line, mid-season injuries didn’t prevent the starting group from getting back together.
“It’s been tough,” Ulbrich said of Vera-Tucker’s two season-ending injuries. “He’s a mentally strong guy, like he’s a guy that it’s hard to get him down. He’s overcome a lot, and the fact that we’re getting him back this game is huge for our offense.”
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