The offensive line was perhaps the Jets’ biggest question mark all summer.
The offensive line will be protecting Zach Wilson on Sunday, following the crushing Achilles tendon tear that will sideline Aaron Rodgers for the rest of the season, but that question mark isn’t going away anytime soon.
Especially not going against the Cowboys’ superstar pass-rusher.
Micah Parsons, who is fresh off a dominant performance against the Giants last Sunday.
“He’s a game-wrecker. … You want to give money to people like that,” Jets head coach Robert Saleh said Friday.
“From everything I’ve heard, he’s an unbelievable worker, and on top of that, you have to game plan for the guy, and on top of that, he just wrecks games. So it’s like, here’s the bag. But, he’s special. You gotta be aware of where he is at all times, he’s as dynamic of a football player as anybody.”
The Jets struggled to defend the pocket from the jump during the dramatic 22-16 overtime victory over the Bills on Monday night.
They surrendered a sack during the first possession to the Bills’ Leonard Floyd that doomed Rodgers’ season.
But the group recovered to allow just two more sacks on the night, though they had allowed eight quarterback hits by the end of the game.
Sunday will present another challenge during a run of opponents with fearsome defenses to start the season: the Cowboys, a unit that ranked fifth-best in the NFL last year in points allowed and finished third in sacks with 54.
Parsons, who had one sack against the Giants, is a wrecking ball in his own right.
He has recorded 27.5 sacks since his rookie debut in 2021, and has earned consecutive All-Pro nods.
“He’s a special player, and they’re a good defense,” Jets center Connor McGovern said. “We just got done playing a good defense and the key is always the best pass protections have a good run game. The Dallas offense, the 49ers, a lot of teams use that — it’s really effective.
“So you got to come out, run the ball, they know we want to run the ball, we know we want to run the ball, and it’s just gonna be one of those games.”
Right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker acknowledged that Parsons was a “good player” and the Jets would have to prepare carefully for him, but later added the team was buoyed by its remarkable comeback win on Monday.
“I think [the win] brings a lot of confidence,” Vera-Tucker said. “We came in high energy, and then [Rodgers] went down, which sucks.
“We kind of had to pick our energy back up, felt the air come out of the stadium. But I think it showed us that even when we weren’t expecting that at all, we definitely dealt with some big adversity.”