New York Jets right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker will miss the upcoming season after sustaining a triceps injury this week at practice, head coach Aaron Glenn said Thursday.
Glenn said Vera-Tucker’s recovery time is about seven months. ESPN reported on Thursday morning that the 26-year-old lineman would have surgery on a torn triceps.
While Xavier Newman is listed as Vera-Tucker’s backup on New York’s unofficial depth chart, it is possible center Joe Tippmann could move to right guard, with Josh Myers being plugged in at center.
“When it comes to who’s going to be up as far as the O-line, I’m still getting that evaluated.” Glenn said. “… He was a big player for us, but we have to continue to keep rolling.”
Vera-Tucker was selected by the Jets with the 14th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Southern California.
He was named one of the Jets’ six team captains on Aug. 28.
“Throughout my career, I haven’t had the opportunity to do that,” Vera-Tucker said at the time of his increased leadership role. “So more and more now I take advantage of those opportunities to be a vocal leader and lead not only O-line but the offense and the team as well, so it’s cool. You never know when this game could be taken away from you, so you have to take advantage of it.”
Vera-Tucker has been prone to injuries in his career. After playing in, and starting, 16 games as a rookie, he played only a combined 12 in the following two seasons due to torn triceps in 2022 and a torn Achilles in 2023.
Last season, Vera-Tucker appeared in 15 games, playing in 97 percent (915) of the offensive snaps. He has started all 43 of his NFL games, with starts at every position on the line except center, and has 10 career penalties.