With the NFL trade deadline coming at 4 p.m. Tuesday, the Jets sure could use an offensive lineman.
The team lost center Connor McGovern (knee) and guard Wes Schweitzer (calf) in Sunday’s win over the Giants.
Both will be placed on injured reserve, coach Robert Saleh said, meaning they will miss at least the next four games.
Can general manager Joe Douglas work the phones and find some replacements?
“You’d like reinforcements, but no one’s trading offensive linemen,” Saleh said. “They are so scarce throughout the league.”
Instead, the Jets likely will just have to figure it out with who they have.
The team has been hit hard by injuries along the offensive line this season.
Laken Tomlinson is the only player left at his original position from their Week 1 starting lineup.
Left tackle Duane Brown went on IR after Week 2 and guard/tackle Alijah Vera-Tucker was lost for the season with a torn Achilles after Week 5.
It is possible the Jets will get rookie Joe Tippmann back this week.
He missed Sunday’s game with a quad injury.
Tippmann had been starting at right guard but his natural position is center.
Brown is also eligible to return to practice but he may need some ramp-up time before he plays.
The Jets went through three centers on Sunday with practice-squad player Xavier Newman playing the second half at the position.
The Jets feared that McGovern might be lost for the season but it sounds like he has a chance to return.
NFL Network reported he suffered a dislocated left knee cap.
“He’s not out of the woods, but let’s just say it was the best-case scenario based on what we thought on the field,” Saleh said.
Veteran wide receiver Randall Cobb was inactive Sunday.
Saleh said it was due to a shoulder injury.
“He’s dealing with a shoulder,” Saleh said. “It was on the two-point play from the Philadelphia game, at the end of the game there and took a shot to the shoulder and it just has not been able to recover at the speed that we were hoping.”
Newman stepping in at center after only signing with the team a few weeks ago was appreciated by his teammates.
“He’s been here a short time but he’s made his name known,” linebacker C.J. Mosley said. “Before coming in [Sunday] and saving the day for our offense, he was on scout offense working with us and giving us looks.
“Credit to him, he was named scout player of the week as voted on by the defensive coaches actually this past week. For him to get the opportunity the way he did, short notice, I’m assuming he didn’t have a lot of reps with the ones and those types of things. Give a lot of credit to him and a lot of credit to our organization and our staff for bringing those types of players in.”
Saleh confirmed DT Al Woods is out for the season after tearing his Achilles on Sunday.
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