New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh.
AP Photo/Steven Senne
Just when you feel the New York Jets have turned a corner on their season, the football gods remind them of their place.
New York’s lack of injury luck in 2023 has been staggering. They lost their recently acquired franchise quarterback after just four plays into the new season, their starting left tackle after two games, and now their All-Pro caliber offensive lineman after just five contests.
“For AVT (Alijah Vera-Tucker), unfortunately, the MRI did show that he tore his Achilles. He’s out for the year…the second year in a row. We’re all kind of surprised because he played a play on it and walked into the locker room on his power but it was a blow. He battled all offseason from the injury a year ago, and to have this happen again is just unfortunate,” head coach Robert Saleh said on Monday afternoon.
The loss of Vera-Tucker is a massive blow to a group that was improving over the last two weeks. New York ran for over 230 yards in their 31-21 win over the Broncos on Sunday while recording over seven yards a carry. In his place, the Jets can expect to turn to second-year tackle Max Mitchell to try and salvage the group.
It doesn’t help that another injury could be on the horizon either.
While Saleh confirmed that he was fine after the game, the coach did acknowledge that left tackle Mekhi Becton was dealing with pain from the knee he had surgery on last season. Saleh gave Becton credit for “gutting it out” on Sunday, but the left tackle had to leave the game (and then return twice) due to pain in his knee. For a player who misses every Wednesday practice as part of his rehab plan, this is not the best news to have entering the middle part of the NFL schedule.
Regardless of the potential concern for Becton, the Jets now have to try and find a way to work with what they have along the offensive line. While he did struggle during training camp, Mitchell looked strong in…
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