The Jets’ offensive line will be reshuffled before their first game of 2025.
Right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, arguably the Jets’ best offensive lineman, tore his triceps Tuesday during practice and will miss the rest of this season.
Glenn declined to answer when pressed during his Friday press conference about who would replace Vera-Tucker at guard.
“Have I ever done that?” Glenn said to the reporter. “Nothing has changed. Why would I tell you that? Why would I give another team a competitive advantage on knowing what we’re doing?”
Glenn, who will make his head coaching debut against the Steelers in Week 1 at MetLife Stadium, told reporters on Thursday he was still evaluating options to replace Vera-Tucker. The likely scenario is the Jets will move center Joe Tippmann to right guard and insert Josh Myers at center.
Tippmann played four games at right guard during his rookie season in 2023. He declined to say where he would play against the Steelers, but Tippmann acknowledged he felt comfortable switching positions.
When John Simpson injured his back during training camp, Tippmann switched to left guard and Myers became the starting center.
“I was able to get a lot of reps at left guard,” Tippmann said. “So, it’s something I’m definitely comfortable jumping back and forth between doing.
“Wherever they need me to play, I will play. I had four or five games at right guard, so it always stays in the back pocket. It’s something I do have experience doing. If they need me to, I will step up.”
The Jets’ offensive line is supposed to be one of their strongest units. They have invested heavily in the O-line the previous three seasons after drafting Tippmann in 2023, left tackle Olu Fashanu the following year and right tackle Armand Membou in April.
Glenn wants the Jets to be a physical team while establishing a culture of discipline and toughness. He is confident the offensive line will step up in Vera-Tucker’s absence.
Without Vera-Tucker, the Jets will have an inexperienced right side when they host the Steelers and will have a significant challenge trying to contain both T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith (a combined 17.5 sacks in 2024).
“Anytime when it comes to offensive linemen, what you look for is versatility at that spot,” Glenn said. “A center that can play guard, tackle that can play guard. You hate the fact when it is a one position guy because then it takes away from some of the things as far as moving and matching guys around.
“That’s the one thing that we have here for a number of guys that we have. Especially our interior guys. Listen, it was bad that AVT went down, it was. But the thing is, we have guys that’s on our roster that’s able to fill in those spots. It’s a terrible injury, hate that it happened, but we’re moving forward.”
Glenn dealt with the injury bug when he was the Lions defensive coordinator last season. Nearly two dozen Detroit players landed on injured reserve throughout last season. Despite that, the Lions managed to finish with the best record in the NFC at 15-2.
Glenn says he expects every player to be available against the Steelers, outside of Vera-Tucker.
“I talked to the staff about what happened last year in Detroit and I think those guys understand my mindset as far as, don’t tell me who we don’t got. Tell me how we are going to get that next player ready to play and tell me what’s the mindset of that player we’ve been prepping on. This is how we operate, this is our play style. If we get a group of guys that understand that, we will be just fine.”
