After the Jets (2-1) decisive 24-3 win against an AFC East rival on "Thursday Night Football," center Joe Tippmann believes the Jets' offensive line is beginning to hit its stride.
"I think so far, we've done well," Tippmann said on Monday. "Just going from game to game, we've made improvements each game and those are the steps that we want to keep taking throughout the season. From game to game, we've done better and better. So, I'm really excited for our guys. The message is we have to keep moving up."
The Jets' offense had a dominant performance and its their best of the 2024 season so far. The offense had 70 plays for 400 total yards, 27 first downs and had the ball for over 40 minutes. QB Aaron Rodgers had 281 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and ran 3 times for 18 yards.
"It was awesome just to see him kind of out there playing and playing his type of ball again," Tippmann said of Rodgers' performance. "It's a great feeling for kind of us as an O-line, because maybe we're not always going to have a perfect pocket, but for him to be able to get out there, move like he's 38 again, it's a good feeling. Just to be able to see him bringing that confidence back within his game. It brings a whole new confidence to our whole offense."
After Thursday's performance, the Jets rank first (pending the outcome of Monday night's games) in the NFL on third-down efficiency with a 56.8% conversion rate . That is the Jets' best third-down conversion rate in franchise history after the first 3 games of the season. Even when it's third-and-long, Tippmann says the trust in the huddle never waivers.
"It's just confidence," Tippmann said of the feeling on third downs. "The O-line's confidence in our ability to give him time and then that confidence that if we can give him time, he's going to make a play. He's going to make something happen, he's going to pick apart their defense, he's going to see what's going on before the snap and that he's just going to capitalize on those little opportunities. Those gaps and those windows are really small. It just takes a guy like Aaron to be able to split that seam and make it happen."
The offensive line was able to handle its their first curveball of the season when RT Morgan Moses went down with a knee injury at the end of the third quarter on Thursday. It was rookie T Olu Fashanu who came in for Moses and got his first NFL game action in the regular season.
"Oh, it was awesome," Tippmann said of Fashanu's play. "I think he did a great job. He's getting prepared in the game week, but he's not exactly getting prepared to start. For him to be able to step in there, with the confidence that he came into the huddle with, it's a great feeling for kind of the entire line knowing that he's going to step in there and he's going to do his best not to miss a beat."
According to Pro Football Focus, Tippmann is the highest-ranked center with a pass blocking grade of 81.7 through the Jets' first three game. Tippmann not only wants to continue his level of play, but he also wants to see the offensive line take the next step in their Week 4 matchup against the visiting Denver Broncos (1-2).
"I would just say keep building in our run game," Tippmann said. "There's still some missed assignment's that people are making and that I, myself, am making. We're always looking to make that next step, keep jumping, keep going further, keep progressing as an O-line and as an offense. When the O-line ties into the receivers and the running backs and everything really starts to click, that's when you know really, really special stuff can happen."
