That Rebuilt New York Jets Offensive Line? Struggles Galore

The New York Jets rebuilt offensive line is having a tough time in 2020.

The embattled New York Jets’ offensive line continues to lose bodies, and the domino effect is taking its toll. Guard Alex Lewis is the latest Jet to go down, and it’s the same injury that has sidelined Sam Darnold for the last two weeks.

Lewis suffered a sprained AC joint this past Sunday. Head coach Adam Gase described it as, “multiple issues with the shoulder, I’d say right now he’s week-to-week, we’ll kind of see how this progresses as we enter this week and see what his status is going to be.”

The Jets have already been without rookie left tackle Mekhi Becton (shoulder). Tackle Chuma Edoga suffered a calf injury in the 24-0 loss in Miami., His status is up in the air.

Gase said he is hopeful that Becton is close after he participated in Friday’s practice on a limited basis. He can then increase his massive rookie’s practice time this week in the hopes that he can play Sunday vs. the Buffalo Bills.

The line is just part of the offensive package that has been crumbling at the seams. The Jets are averaging a league-worst 12.5 points per game. They have lost games by an average of 18.3 points per game, which is also worst in the NFL.

“You don’t want to show up on a Monday and it’s the same as last week and the same as the week before that when you’re not being successful on Sundays,” Guard Greg Van Roten said Monday. “(Gase) is doing everything he can do to make sure we’re all set to go for our next opponent.”

The offseason priority this offseason was fixing the offensive line. This year, they opened the season with four new starters. Right tackle George Fant and Van Roten were brought in as free agents. Becton, the team’s first round pick, was a starter from Week 1. Still, the results haven’t been there.

“It’s pretty normal in a season to have injuries,” center Connor McGovern said Friday before the Dolphins game. “You’re gonna get banged up and nicked up. When you’re playing in a phone booth like that you’re bound to get some bangs and bruises. That’s why you carry eight offensive linemen on a game day, and ten on the active roster.”

The Jets are back to the drawing board, hoping that things will turn around in a season where they seem unable to do anything right at this point.

“To Adam’s credit, we’re not doing the same thing and expecting different results,” Van Roten said. “We’ve changed how we met. We’ve changed how we’ve communicated. We’ve included different groups of people in different meetings. Today, we met as an entire offense. He had a 30-clip tape that he showed us, and he just asked guys, ‘What happened on this play? What were you thinking?’ It wasn’t a session where we’re all getting screamed at. It was more of a way for him to get feedback on why certain things are happening on certain plays.”

The Jets are hopeful Becton will return soon, but Lewis is being treated on a week-to-week basis.