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On Sunday, September 12 the New York Jets lost one of their most important pieces due to injury.
Star offensive tackle Mekhi Becton went down in a crumpled heap on the same play that featured Zach Wilson’s first touchdown pass of his career in Week 1 vs the Carolina Panthers.
He initially walked off the field with the help of trainers before ultimately being carted to the locker room. After the game, he was diagnosed with an MCL sprain, but upon further review, he also suffered a dislocated knee that had to be put back into place.
When Jets’ head coach Robert Saleh spoke to the media earlier this week he said Becton was still seeking additional medical opinions to determine the best course of action.
During the Week 2 Thursday Night Football contest, we finally got clarity on the next step for the big man out of Louisville.
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ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter revealed that Becton is scheduled to undergo knee surgery next Wednesday and is expected to miss between four and eight weeks.
The original timeline for Becton’s return was set at four to six weeks, prior to the decision on surgery.
Saleh did mention earlier in the week that if the big man from Louisville opted for surgery it was going to add some time to his return.
When he was first carted off the field on Sunday clutching his leg, I’m not sure anyone thought there was a chance he would be back in 2021.
Ralph Vacchiano of SNY believes Becton will be back in the “mid-November range.”
Great Insurance Policy
Until he comes back, the Jets have revealed their game plan for the time being. George Fant will slide in at left tackle and Morgan Moses will step in at right tackle.
Losing Becton hurts, there’s no question, he has all the talent in the world to become one of the game’s best offensive tackles in the NFL, if he can stay healthy which has been a problem through his first year, and change in the NFL.
Although it seems like the Jets are more prepared than most teams to handle this situation.
Saleh believes the Jets had “three starting-caliber tackles on their roster” while most teams “hope to have one.”
The Jets were perfectly comfortable and were planning on Fant being their starting right tackle. Then something happened that they didn’t see coming, Moses suddenly being released by the Washington Football Team.
That was a situation general manager Joe Douglas couldn’t pass up and ultimately wrangled in the veteran stud into the fold.
It gave the Jets a first-world problem and a great insurance policy just in case of injury.
Moses is a proven commodity at right tackle and while Fant doesn’t have nearly the same amount of experience, his athletic profile translates well to the left tackle spot.
These two are more than capable of holding down the fort during Becton’s absence. Although the overall sentiment of this story is a relative sigh of relief that the Jets’ young star offensive tackle will return at some point in 2021.
The other slice of good news is rookie quarterback Zach Wilson is in good hands behind this talented tackle tandem.
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