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The Jets are hoping to get back right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker back from a high ankle sprain for their important game in Arizona.
People were quick to say Vera-Tucker is injury-prone after he went down in the Jets’ loss to Pittsburgh, considering his stints on IR the last two seasons, but there is nothing he could have done to prevent this injury against the Steelers.
He was taken out by friendly fire, when a teammate fell to the ground, and rolled into him. He didn’t even see it coming.
Filling in for Vera-Tucker was journeyman Jake Hanson, a try-hard overachiever, who sometimes can get overmatched athletically, and you saw that on two plays in the first half of the Jets’ win over Houston.
The Jets’ first offensive series of the game ended with a sack of Aaron Rodgers by defensive tackle Denico Autry, who got by Hanson on this play.
Early in the second quarter, defensive tackle Tim Settle got by Jacob Hanson up the middle for a QB pressure and Rodgers threw incomplete to Tyler Conkin on third and six, leading to a punt.
Hanson had to exit the game in the second quarter with a hamstring injury, and was replaced by Olu Fashanu, who did get called for a hold in the fourth quarter, bringing back an inspiring 13-yard scramble by Rodgers, but aside from that, did a pretty good job considering he had never played guard in a game before.
So if Vera-Tucker can’t go against Arizona, they might need to think long and hard about using Fashanu at right guard, even if Hanson is healthy . . .
After watching the tape of the Jets’ win over Houston, it’s pretty clear the Jets’ run defense continues to be a major problem.
And like I wrote the other day, going with three undrafted free-agent defensive linemen in their rotation is a dubious plan.
Not hating on any of these guys, and I’m not saying get rid of any of them, but one or two of them should probably be on the practice squad.
Against Houston, on third-and-inches in the first quarter, Eric Watts got locked up by Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil, and Joe Mixon went for 29 yards off left tackle. Watts has a great motor, but at close to 6-6, he sometimes struggles to keep his pad level down. As they say in football and wrestling – “low man wins.”
In the third quarter, on a first-and-10, Texans running back J.J. Taylor ran through a massive hole on the left side between rookies Henry Taylor and Watts. He gained nine yards, but would have gone for more if he didn’t trip.
The Jets need to go out before the trade deadline and get a veteran defensive linemen.
Going with three undrafted rookies in their defensive line rotation makes very little sense . . .
But the run defense issues go beyond the defensive line.
There are too many missed tackles in the back seven.
As Jeff Ulbrich said last week, Sauce Gardner has some things to work on.
While some Jets writers and fans continue to heap praise on Quincy Williams, he needs to clean up his tackling.
On a second-quarter TD drive where the Texans drove down the field spearheaded by their rushing attacked, the drive culminated with a Mixon three-yard TD run to the left with Williams missing a tackle in the backfield.
Williams is tough as bootleather, and makes highlight film hits, but he also misses too many tackles, and that’s something he needs to clean up.
November 4, 2024
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