As if the offensive line woes from Sunday weren’t enough, Jets left tackle Duane Brown is now dealing with a hip injury to go along with his lingering shoulder injury. Brown has now missed two days of practice. Friday will be an important day toward his game status for Sunday against the Patriots.
If Brown can’t go, it will likely be Billy Turner starting at left tackle with Mekhi Becton on the right and Max Mitchell as the backup. The Jets also recently signed veteran offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi to the practice squad.
Buy Jets TicketsTurner didn’t exactly inspire confidence when he ran as one of the starting tackles during the preseason while Brown was out and Becton hadn’t yet cracked the starting lineup. But it can’t get much worse.
Brown is currently dead last among 68 eligible offensive tackles in pass-block win rate (H/T New York Post). Last week against Micah Parsons and the Dallas Cowboys certainly didn’t help.
This week presents another challenge in Patriots star edge-rusher Matthew Judon. The Jets need to figure out a better way to handle that pass rush and allow quarterback Zach Wilson more time to be able to get the ball to his playmakers.
There could also be the possibility that the Jets consider moving Alijah Vera-Tucker to left tackle and put Wes Schweitzer at right guard (and eventually play Joe Tippmann over Connor McGovern at center).
The offensive line was always the biggest concern for the Jets even before Aaron Rodgers was injured. Now it’s coming into fruition early in the season.
