The battered Jets offensive line will face another formidable AFC East defense in the Dolphins on Black Friday, but despite its injuries, the group remains confident in its ability to protect new starting quarterback Tim Boyle.
“Obviously they have a really good defense, but I think the way we’ve been working this week, spending that extra time, watching film, and talking in the meeting rooms … I think the communication level is going to be extremely crucial for us,” guard Laken Tomlinson told The Post on Wednesday.
The Dolphins enter Week 12 with an elite pass rush, tied for ninth in the league in sacks (31) through 10 games.
Four teams ahead of them have played 11.
Bradley Chubb leads the team with six sacks, ahead of Jaelan Phillips (5.5), Christian Wilkins (4.5), Andrew Van Ginkel (4) and Zach Sieler (4).
In the season opener against the Bills, the Jets started Duane Brown, Tomlinson, Connor McGovern, Alijah Vera-Tucker and Mekhi Becton up front.
In Sunday’s 32-6 loss to the Bills, Tomlinson was the only one left standing in what was the Jets’ seventh different offensive line combination.
Thirteen different linemen have played since the start of the season, which is tied for third-most in the NFL.
The shuffling and reshuffling have made for a lack of continuity that can be difficult to deal with on a regular basis.
Against the Bills in Week 11, Becton went down with an ankle injury, which limited him at practice Wednesday. Zach Wilson was sacked five times and Boyle once after he replaced the Jets’ former starting quarterback.
“I think last week we just didn’t do a good enough job of protecting Zach and then Tim when he did go in, and this week has been a mindset of just doing right longer,” rookie Chris Glaser, who made his first career start last week, told The Post. “So a lot of those from last week was just miscues by us and not doing what we’re supposed to do. So locking in what we did wrong last weekend and applying that to this week and getting better each day.
“That’s what we’ve been focusing on and we’re gonna try to do our best. They’re [the Dolphins] a great defense and we’re ready for the challenge.”’
Glaser mentioned the idea is to play a “five-as-one” unit, and teammate Max Mitchell agreed, explaining communication is worked on daily among the lineman to find a rhythm.
“The O-line definitely has a synergy to it where you need to build chemistry with each other and that’s definitely part of it. And that’s hard to do week in, week out like that,” Mitchell told The Post. “But we’re all a tight-knit group in there and we do the best we can trying to get chemistry built during the week.”
Cornerback Michael Carter II (hamstring) did not practice Tuesday or Wednesday after sustaining an injury in practice before missing the game against the Bills.
LB Sam Eguavoen (hip) was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice.
DB Tony Adams (finger), OL Duane Brown (hip), DL John Franklin-Myers (knee), LB Jermaine Johnson (hip), LB Chazz Surratt (ankle), OL Billy Turner (finger), LB Quincy Williams (knee) and WR Garrett Wilson (elbow) were all full participants.