Armand Membou’s unreal Jets debut part of standout day from jumbled offensive line
For one week, the Jets didn’t seem to miss Alijah Vera-Tucker.
The offensive line was one of the bright spots in their 34-32 loss to the Steelers on Sunday.
Without Vera-Tucker, out for the season with a triceps injury, projected starting center Joe Tippmann moved to right guard and Josh Myers started in the middle.
The unit was terrific. Gang Green ran for 182 yards, didn’t punt in the first half and amassed 394 yards of offense.
Young offensive tackles Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou held up well against the Steelers duo of T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.
“I think that just speaks so much to the guys in our room, to Tipp being able to move to guard and play that well,” said Myers, a free agent acquisition from the Packers. “And just everybody’s ability to handle it, from our coaches on down. It speaks to everyone involved.”
Membou, the No. 7 pick out of Missouri in April, saw a lot of Watt, and was able to keep the seven-time Pro Bowler from recording a sack.
According to Pro Football Focus, Membou didn’t allow a single quarterback pressure or hit in 25 passing snaps.
“I think he has everything you want in a tackle. His bend, his athleticism, his ability to move [in the] run and pass game, is really impressive,” Myers said. “Especially that being the first game of his career. That was an impressive showing out of him.”
Coach Aaron Glenn was appreciative that left guard John Simpson stood up for quarterback Justin Fields, but he didn’t feel like Simpson went about it in the right manner. Late in the first half, Fields was hit hard by Jalen Ramsey of the Steelers. It was arguably late and could’ve warranted a flag, though one was not thrown.
Simpson came in and sent Ramsey to the turf, drawing a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty.
“That’s something we all have to learn from,” Glenn said. “There are ways that we can protect our quarterback without getting those types of penalties. I know for a fact that John Simpson will do a better job in that.”
Glenn said the decision to make receiver Allen Lazard inactive came down to the veteran missing time in training camp with a shoulder injury.
“So we wanted to make sure that he was up to speed on everything that we were doing,” he said. “So we’ll see how that goes this week.”
The Jets signed wide receiver Tyler Johnson to the active 53-man roster and added offensive lineman Liam Fornadel to the practice squad. Johnson had two catches for 31 yards on Sunday.