The Jets’ offensive line is a huge concern and it’s impossible not to think about it or worry about it. If that’s a two-letter word that makes a lot of sense here, it’s that Aaron Rodgers still has what it takes at age 40 if the rebuilt unit stays healthy. It should give you an opportunity to demonstrate.
Keeping this revamped group on the field is worth discussing, but apparently it shouldn’t be discussed by the people who make up that revamped unit.
“It’s definitely not a topic,” Aliyah Bella Tucker said Wednesday.
Yeah. Why talk about something so unpleasant and difficult to escape?
“I think the last few years have been very unlucky for us, for sure,” Vera Tucker said. “What’s out of our hands is really out of our control.”
He should know.
Vera-Tucker, a first-round pick in 2021, has struggled to avoid injury.
After starting 16 games at left guard as a rookie, he lasted just seven games at right guard in 2022 before going down with a torn triceps.
He returned to right guard last season and played 100 percent offensively in the first four games, but suffered a torn Achilles tendon in Week 5 against Denver, a 31-21 win.
This is a comeback year for him, and the Jets clearly believe he can live up to it.
This week they picked up Vera Tucker’s fifth-year option for $15.3 million.
He said he is regaining strength in his calf and lower leg muscles and is running and participating in offensive line drills.
“I can’t say too much about training camp or Week 1, but I can say I feel really good,” Vera Tucker said. “We are definitely on pace for a good start to the season.”
He slid into right guard with an almost new group. Joe Tippman is back at center for his second NFL season, but they added three new veteran starters in five days of free agency.
Tyron Smith (Cowboys) was signed as left tackle, Morgan Moses (Ravens) returned for a second stint with the Jets at right tackle, and John Simpson (Ravens) joined as left guard.
Given the ages of the tackles — Smith and Moses are both 33 years old, and Smith has a foreboding injury history — the Jets, who have the 11th overall pick in the draft, could hand out weapons for Rodgers and Moses. It was wise to resist the urge to put it in. Instead, they selected a protector in tackle Olu Fashanu from Penn State.
“We expect it to be a really nice improvement,” Vera Tucker said.
Fashanu has already been in contact with Vera Tucker, indicating the 24-year-old rookie is “coming here ready to work.”
As for Smith, he’s a USC legend. A decade after Smith left, Vera Tucker came to that campus to play for the Trojans and is now an eight-time Pro Bowler with the Cowboys and an All-Decade team in the NFL in the 2010s. He is teammates with the named player.
“It was so surreal when I first met him and now he’s in the O-line room and now he’s my teammate. It’s kind of crazy when you think about it,” Vera Tucker said.
He has started every Jets game except center field. Vera-Tucker should have a home at right guard unless needed elsewhere.
“It feels good and it’s kind of a relief. I kind of know what the lineup is going to be before I even walk into camp,” he said. “It feels good. Just focus on one thing and try to perfect your technique and technique at that position. I’m really excited. It’s the first time I’ve been at one position since my rookie year. I feel like there isn’t one.”
When asked what he’s excited about this season, linebacker Quincy Williams was the first to say, “I’m excited about this season. “I’m really excited about our offensive line.”
There’s a caveat to this, even if the people on the phone aren’t talking to each other about it.
“We know what type of unit is in that room,” Vera Tucker said. “The opportunity is there, we can’t waste it. Of course, everyone has to stay healthy. That’s the important thing.”
of course.
