Aaron Rodgers‘ teammate offensive tackle Mekhi Becton has publicly expressed his displeasure with his place on the roster. Now, the head coach of the teams politely reacted to the OTs’ outspoken statement.
The offensive lineman from Louisville began his career with the Jets in 2020, but he had a difficult time staying in good shape, starting only 14 games throughout his career in New York.
What did Mekhi Becton cite about the Jets’ coaching staff?
The 364-pound, 6-foot-7-inch titan was benched for nearly the entire previous season due to multiple knee and foot injuries, and the offensive tackle blamed his team’s coaching staff for his injury the previous year on Newsday.
“It made no sense to put me at right tackle,” he told. “I hurt my right knee. That’s going to be the knee that I put the most pressure on [while backpedaling in pass protection]. I explained it [to the coaches], but no one cared.”
The 24-year-old made it clear that he did not want to play offensive tackle and also had been experiencing health issues throughout camp. Even though he informed the team management of this, they insisted on giving him the position.
“I got forced to play a position I don’t play, and then I was pretty much telling them I wasn’t feeling good the whole time throughout camp, and I was told I shouldn’t be complaining,” he added. “Go out there and do it. I was limping throughout the whole practice, and I just took a step and my knee buckled and I got hurt again and had to get reconstructive surgery.”
Robert Saleh’s heartwarming response to Mekhi Becton’s bold statement
The head coach of the teams, responded to the criticism of his teams’ OT on Tuesday before an OTA practice. Instead of responding harshly, Saleh commended Mekhi for working consistently over the previous six months to be in his best shape.
“I’m not going to get into the negative of all of it,” Saleh said. “It’s not about finger-pointing. What I’m focused on, though, is over the last six months Mekhi has done an unbelievable job of getting his weight down to where it’s a healthy weight that’s sustainable. He’s been available during OTAs. He’s been prompt and very diligent with regard to meetings. I think he’s probably in the best shape of his life. He’s got a smile on his face and he’s attacking it. That’s what is most important.”
The Jets currently have a number of excellent tackles vying for one of the two positions, and the head coach hoped that Becton could get past everything and fully establish himself next to Rodger and also urged to forget about the offensive tackles’ earlier remarks.
“Whatever happened in the past, happened in the past. It’s not about finger-pointing. It’s about moving forward. If he keeps approaching this offseason the way he has and he keeps attacking it the way he has, excited to see what he does with this fourth year,” he added.
Although Becton’s health is the team’s top concern, he has the ability to emerge as one of the league’s most successful offensive linemen. However, based on the coaches’ comments, it appears that the OT might have to make do with the right side this season as well, and the MB did so on purpose.
How do you view Saleh’s handling of the situation and his optimism for Becton’s future? Let us know your thoughts on Becton’s criticism of the Jets’ coaching staff in the comments section.
