Getty New York Jets offensive tackle Mekhi Becton starting for NYJ in 2020.
The New York Jets offensive line has been the talk of training camp — at least, from a negative perspective.
On this week’s episode of HBO’s Hard Knocks on August 15, Jets head coach Robert Saleh laid into his blocking unit for their poor performance last week during joint practice with the Carolina Panthers. The OL responded by playing much better in the preseason game that followed.
Fast forward to August 16, and the NYJ offensive line was getting bullied during another joint practice — this time, competing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
By my count, Rodgers has been sacked six times in the last 10 dropbacks. His completions came on quick throws. The Bucs’ front is really good or … #Jets
Despite the struggles on the O-line, former first-round talent Mekhi Becton has yet to receive a real starting opportunity with the first-team offense. Instead, he’s typically blocked for Zach Wilson and the second-team unit at left tackle.
SNY’s Connor Hughes addressed the strangeness of this situation publicly toward the end of practice on Wednesday, voicing: “I’ve seen enough. There’s zero reason Mekhi Becton shouldn’t be getting first-team reps. I can’t imagine these are their best five. It’s Aug. 16. He’s still healthy. Play him. Too much talent for it to be worse than this.”
Without Duane Brown, veteran Billy Turner and second-year prospect Max Mitchell have been rotating at left and right tackle with the starters.
Jets’ Robert Saleh Explains Why Mekhi Becton Isn’t Getting Starter Reps
After the joint practice with the Bucs, Coach Saleh spoke with reporters, and he had a curious explanation for Becton’s lack of usage in front of Aaron Rodgers.
“That’s a fair question and Mekhi and I have talked about it,” Saleh began after he was asked why Becton has not rotated in with the starters like everyone else.
“The biggest thing for Mekhi is to show that he can play a [full] game, right? Without having to be spelled out and take a break and all that stuff,” Saleh went on. “So, it’s unfair to the team to prepare a guy to start if you’re not sure if he can make it through a game. He is moving in the right direction. I thought he had a big step against Carolina in that game, and he’s doing a really nice job competing.”
The Jets HC ended his response by relaying that “as soon as the training staff and everyone feels comfortable that he’s able to show that and stack days up, we’ll definitely start rotating him in to compete.”
Later, during a follow-up, Saleh voiced that no one is worried whether or not Becton has the ability to start, it’s just a matter of availability. He also noted that Becton could start getting some reps at right tackle as soon as tomorrow — something the key blocker appeared open to last time he spoke with the media.
“This is a team effort for Mekhi to get connected to his knee and have the confidence that he can conquer the world with it,” the NYJ coach concluded. “We’ll feel it [out]. Like I said, we’re constantly building up to a certain play count — that’s for everybody — and he’s been grinding towards that.”
Jets QB Aaron Rodgers Has Unique Encounter With OT Mekhi Becton on Hard Knocks
Rodgers downplayed the Jets OL struggles again after joint practice with Tampa Bay, but the cameras don’t lie. During Hard Knocks’ footage of the Panthers practice, both Rodgers and Saleh were visibly frustrated by the blocking unit.
There was also a unique — and somewhat bizarre — encounter between the future Hall of Fame signal-caller and Becton during the second preseason outing, which was caught on the HBO docuseries. Heavy’s very own Paul Esden Jr. shared the clip on X.
WHOLESOME #JETS CONTENT ALERT: Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) embracing Mekhi Becton (@BigTicket73) & motivating him + wanting to setup a lunch to chat 😭 🎥 @NFLFilms #TakeFlight #HardKnocks
“Love you, big guy,” Rodgers expressed to Becton on the sideline, adding that “I want to see you keep grinding.”
Then Rodgers did something fans typically never see — inviting the potential starting left or right tackle to “lunch or something.” The exact quote was: “Let’s get together this week and talk, we can get lunch or something.”
Becton appeared to reply, “oh yeah, for sure,” before leaving Rodgers’ side. It was an encouraging moment for the former first-round talent, who appears to have a friend in his new superstar quarterback.