Jets right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker will undergo season-ending surgery for a torn triceps.
This is just two days after the 25-year-old suffered the injury during practice.
Vera-Tucker’s injury happened during one-on-one drills, according to the NFL Network. The Jets did not have practice or media availability on Wednesday, but Aaron Glenn confirmed Vera-Tucker’s injury on Thursday morning.
“It calls for a seven-month rehab in that situation,” Glenn said about Vera-Tucker’s injury. “The thing about who’s going to be up in far as the O-Line, I’m still getting that evaluated.
“It is what it is. He was a big player for us, man, but we got to continue to keep rolling.”
Since entering the league in 2021, durability has been an issue for Vera-Tucker. He has played at least 15 games in a season in two out of his previous four seasons.
In 2022, Vera-Tucker also tore his triceps and missed the Gang Green’s final 10 games. His latest triceps injury is to the opposite arm. He returned in 2023 only to play just five games after tearing his Achilles tendon.
Vera-Tucker is arguably the Jets’ best offensive lineman and was hoping he would be one of the catalysts to their offense, which is expected to lean heavily on the run with Justin Fields under center.
“It’s a tough deal,” Jets offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand said. “But I will let the head coach talk about the injury stuff. But as y’all know, that’s a good football player. That’s a really good football player. But we feel confident in the other guys, too.”
In addition, Vera-Tucker is also in the final year of his rookie contract, which will pay him a guaranteed $15.3 million — the amount of his fifth-year option.
Coming into the 2025 season, the offensive line was expected to be one of the Jets’ strengths after using a first-round pick on right tackle Armand Membou. Now, the unit will have to reshuffle ahead of Week 1’s matchup against a stout Steelers defense.
Center Joe Tippmann, who has started four games at right guard during his rookie season in 2023, could slide over to replace Vera-Tucker. If that is the case, Josh Myers, whom the Jets signed to a one-year deal in March after he spent four seasons with the Packers, would start at center. Tippmann and Myers have both been engaged in a competition this summer and Jets coach Aaron Glenn has been quiet on who will start at center against Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers on Sunday.
“The versatility of offensive linemen, not just Tipp, but any of them, guys that have position [flexibility] just adds tremendous value to those guys and the roster,” Engstrand said. “Then again, we feel good about a bunch of those guys that we have that may have to go into the game that they can play multiple positions.”
