Getty New York Jets offensive tackle Mekhi Becton walking off of the field after practice.
New York Jets offensive tackle Mekhi Becton was back at practice on Thursday, July 28.
The big man had been absent since before mandatory minicamp going all the way back to his injury in the 2021 season opener.
Now the former first-rounder is in fantastic shape learning a new position in the NFL as a right tackle at training camp. However, one insider ruffled his feathers and Becton decided to respond after practice.
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And so It Begins
ESPN’s Rich Cimini tweeted out that Becton had been “laboring” through the early portion of practice on Thursday. He suggested that the big man was so exhausted from the workout that he had to take a knee off to the side.
After practice ended Becton saw this tweet and responded, “make sure you say the part when I still grinded through practice you weirdo.”
This isn’t the first time that these two have had beef.
When Becton showed up for mandatory minicamp after missing the voluntary portion of the offseason, he spoke to the media. This was the first time he had been made available since he got injured in the 2021 season opener versus the Carolina Panthers.
Cimini asked Becton if the only reason he skipped all the voluntary work was due to his pregnant girlfriend.
You could see that the former Louisville product wasn’t happy with the question and fired back saying, “nah it’s because I was having a kid bro. You knew that.”
.@RichCimini asked #Jets OL Mekhi Becton (@BigTicket73) was the reason he decided to skip OTAs solely because he was about to become a dad or was there other reasons? ‘Nah it’s because I was having a kid bro. You knew that’ 😳 Mekhi isn’t a fan of Rich lol: 🎥 @nyjets #TakeFlight
Cimini later explained on his Flight Deck Podcast that according to sources Becton skipped parts of the offseason for additional reasons.
One of them is Becton’s frustration with the organization about how they put out the injury timeline after Week 1 and how that spun a narrative that made him look bad.
Cimini said the reason he asked that question during the presser is he wanted Becton to admit it publically, which he did not.
Not a Big Deal
Zack Rosenblatt, a new member of the Jets beat, tweeted out that Becton “had to take a breather” several times during practice.
Mekhi Becton has had to take a breather a couple times already today. Looking good physically but still working on his stamina. #Jets
He also documented some on the field struggles for the big man and said that Becton was “beat” on three plays that would’ve resulted in sacks.
Zach Wilson would’ve been sacked on three different plays in third down 11-on-11, twice by Bryce Huff and once by Vinny Curry.
Mekhi Becton beat on all three. #Jets
After practice Jets head coach Robert Saleh was asked about how his former first-rounder looked and he seemed to shut down a lot of the criticisms:
“Yeah, it has been a year since he played. I know it was a little sticky today (humid) and he’s a big man. If he was limping I didn’t notice it. He got all of his work in, got his reps in, and did individual work. [Becton] did the whole list of things we had planned out for him and we thought he did a good job with it.”
#Jets HC Robert Saleh shut down the Mekhi Becton (@BigTicket73) criticisms from today saying it was humid out there & ‘it has been a year’ since he last practiced + added that he did a ‘good job’ doing everything they asked & wanted from him: 🎥 @nyjets #TakeFlight #JetsCamp
Did Becton struggle on Thursday? Of course, he did and that’s perfectly okay.
If you’re going to struggle, practice is the perfect place to do it. Becton hasn’t participated in any organized football activities in basically seven months. Of course, there is going to be rust that has to be knocked off.
Training camp is a long arduous process and that should help Becton get back in football shape and have the right mindset for the regular season.
Rosenblatt tweeted out a quote from the Connor McGovern presser where he said that Becton is starting to look like his old self. Becton might not be there yet, but he has plenty of time before we get to the 2022 season opener.
Connor McGovern said you can tell in Mekhi Becton’s pass sets that he’s starting to look like his old self. Called him a “force of nature”. #Jets
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