Robert Saleh’s gut feeling — even if the Jets head coach hedged by saying he’s been wrong plenty of times before — was right.
The knee injury that right tackle Morgan Moses sustained during their 24-3 win against the Patriots on Thursday won’t be season-ending, and instead, the veteran offensive lineman will only miss between two and four weeks with an MCL sprain and bone bruise, NFL Network reported.
After navigating the opening two weeks without any injuries to the unit tasked with protecting 40-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Moses — acquired from the Ravens in the offseason — exited with the injury in the third quarter.
The 33-year-old spent the 2021 season with the Jets, following the first seven years of his career in Washington, before the two campaigns with the Ravens, and Moses has started 147 games across his NFL career — the second-most on the Jets’ offensive line behind left tackle Tyron Smith (164).
Rookie Olu Fashanu will start in Moses’ place — after replacing him against the Patriots — when the Jets host the Broncos in Week 4 and aim to open the 2024 campaign with a 3-1 record.
“It was kind of a luxury when [Moses] got hurt,” Saleh said Friday. “You’re sending out a first-round pick. He did good. He’s been getting a lot of reps in practice.”
Still, the Jets are dealing with their first offensive line wrinkle of the season after a 2023 campaign filled with shifting.
They regularly needed to unveil different combinations that blended together youth in then-rookies Joe Tippmann and Carter Warren, veterans in Laken Tomlinson and even practice squad players such as Xavier Newman.
When that paired with inconsistency at quarterback following Rodgers’ torn Achilles in Week 1, Gang Green’s offense sputtered for most of the year.
That looked different to start 2024.
Rodgers returned and operated with efficiency, especially during the Jets’ victories in Weeks 2 and 3, and part of that stemmed from the steady offensive line play in front of him — with Moses pairing with John Simpson, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Smith and Tippmann.
But after Moses’ injury, the Jets will encounter their first true test for a revamped offensive line.
It’ll involve a rookie — in Fashanu — needing to step in, too.