The Jets‘ offensive line has been like a game of musical chairs in the past two seasons. Gang Green hopes that their line will soon be stabilized with the news of a key veteran’s possible return.
On Wednesday, Robert Saleh announced the Jets would open left tackle Duane Brown’s practice window this week. Brown has been on injured reserve since Sept. 23 with a hip injury, a day before the Jets’ loss to the Patriots.
When a player’s practice window is opened, the team has 21 days to either activate that player to the 53-man roster or shut them down for the remainder of the season.
“Just have to see how it feels in practice,” Brown said Wednesday. “Everything I’ve been doing to this point, sprinting, change of direction, stuff like that. Trying to simulate the game action, but I won’t know exactly how it feels until I’m pushing, playing against people who are 300-plus pounds, real pass protection, really putting stress on it.
“Once I get a couple of days of that, I will have a better idea.”
Injuries have marred Brown’s tenure with the Jets. The veteran signed a two-year, $22 million contract in August of 2022 after Mekhi Becton’s second knee injury in two seasons. However, Brown was placed on injured reserve before the Jets’ first game of 2022 due to a shoulder injury.
The 38-year-old eventually returned after missing the first four games of that season, but his shoulder hampered him throughout the entire year. He played in 12 games and allowed one sack after basically playing with one healthy shoulder. But Brown was eventually shut down for the Jets season finale once the team was eliminated the previous week.
After having offseason shoulder surgery and not practicing during OTAs (organized team activities) last spring, the offensive lineman was eventually cleared to practice late last August.
Jets coach Robert Saleh said Brown was so eager to return to the field after his shoulder surgery that he felt like the team might have “compromised” some of his rehab in terms of the speed of it.
“I was a bit ambitious in my recovery time trying to get back,” Brown said. “I don’t think I was as strong as I could have been.
“The time off, I had a chance to get stronger and get a bit more adjusted than I was before. Coming back and having a few days of practice and going into a game, I don’t think I was quite ready yet.
“I do feel a lot better now, but I still have to trust the process of getting back into it and see how it feels and go from there.”
After Brown’s hip injury, the Jets began shuffling their offensive line.
Becton, who was starting at right tackle, moved into Brown’s left tackle spot. Then Alijah Vera-Tucker, who usually played at right guard, moved to right tackle. Rookie Joe Tippmann was inserted into the starting offensive line at right guard.
The Jets offensive line has been continued to be crushed by injuries this season. Vera-Tucker tore his Achilles last month and will be out for the season.
Center Connor McGovern (knee) and right guard Wes Schweitzer (calf) have been placed on injured reserve after last Sunday’s game against the Giants. Tippmann (quadriceps) has also been injured.
With all the changes on the Jets offensive line, it has been difficult to generate any continuity, which has hindered the offense a bit. Gang Green ranks 29th (273.3 yards per game) and 26th in points per game (18).
“It’s very frustrating because … everything starts up front,” Saleh said. “You want to get creative and you want to do different things but the protection has to hold up and a lot of times the protection, it comes from continuity and guys just knowing how to play off each other, how to pass off games, how to feel one another in their sets or in the run game, whatever it is.
“We love the guys we have in our room, we do. It’s just a matter of them just playing together and getting together and playing together and playing next to one another and communicating with one another. If we can just get some continuity going, the group that we have is good enough.”
Now that Brown appears close to returning, that will give the Jets some options on their offensive line. The Jets could move Becton back to right tackle and can play Billy Turner or Max Mitchell at right guard.
“Gotta put your work in,” Becton said about the possibility of moving back to right tackle. “The muscle memory of moving back to the other side.
“I just want to play football, I didn’t play football for two years. So I really don’t give a damn about where I’m at. I just want to play football.”
