New York Jets starting right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker will undergo season-ending surgery for a torn triceps, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Vera-Tucker suffered the injury during Tuesday’s practice, sources told ESPN on Wednesday. The Jets, who did not practice or have media availability Wednesday, have yet to comment on the injury.
Durability has been an issue for Vera-Tucker, who has missed extended time in two of his four seasons due to various injuries, including a season-ending triceps injury in 2022. This latest triceps injury is to the opposite arm from the one he injured in 2022, sources told Schefter. He also missed 12 games in 2023 because of a torn Achilles.
The Jets were counting on Vera-Tucker, perhaps their best overall lineman, to ease the transition for rookie right tackle Armand Membou.
This is a tough blow for Vera-Tucker, 26, who is in the final year of his rookie contract. A first-round draft pick in 2021, he is making a guaranteed $15.3 million — the amount of his fifth-year option.
Early in training camp, first-year Jets coach Aaron Glenn expressed an interest in extending Vera-Tucker’s contract. Glenn called him “a great player,” adding, “hopefully, at some point, we can try to talk and get something done.”
This latest injury was first reported Wednesday by The Athletic.
The offensive line, thought to be one of the Jets’ strengths, will have to be shuffled as the team prepares to face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
Center Joe Tippmann, who has played right guard in the past, could slide over to replace Vera-Tucker. Josh Myers, a longtime Green Bay Packers starter, would play center. Tippmann and Myers waged a summerlong battle at center, and Glenn still hadn’t declared a winner in that competition.
The Jets have another situation on the line that bears watching. Left guard John Simpson missed time in the preseason with a back ailment, but he returned to practice Tuesday and is expected to play Sunday against the Steelers.
At the beginning of camp, Vera-Tucker talked optimistically about the season, noting this was the first offseason since 2022 that he didn’t have to rehab from a major injury.
“I tell people all the time, this is the best I’ve ever felt coming off an offseason,” he said in late July.
Vera-Tucker was voted a captain earlier in the week by his teammates.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini contributed to this story.
