Jets coach Robert Saleh responds to Mekhi Becton calling out coaching staff for season-ending injury

New York Jets offensive tackle Mekhi Becton has made his preferred position very clear to coach Robert Saleh this offseason. Becton tweeted earlier this month his desire to play at left tackle as opposed to right tackle, where the team has attempted to put him in the past.

In a recent Newsday article, Becton blamed an injury last season on the fact the Jets asked him to play right tackle, saying the move “made no sense.” The former first-round pick in 2020 has played just one game over the past two seasons after having surgery on his right knee both years.

Saleh spoke on Becton’s comments ahead of the Jets OTAs on Tuesday, but declined to say much about the offensive lineman’s assertions.

“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 regards 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.”

Becton entered the league at 364 pounds but the inactivity due to his injuries the past two seasons caused him to get up to 400 pounds. This offseason he worked hard to get down to a healthy weight, losing more than 50 pounds.

That gives him a good chance, if he can stay healthy, to have his most impactful season since his rookie year when he started 13 games.

“Whatever happened in the past, happened in the past,” Saleh said. “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.”

Mekhi Becton claims he expressed concerns over playing right tackle, but ‘no one cared’

Becton said in the Newsday article that he was concerned about the pressure that playing right tackle would put on his right knee, which he injured in 2021. He then reinjured the same knee in training camp.

“It made no sense to put me at right tackle,” Becton told Newsday. “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.

“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. 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.”

Despite those concerns, Saleh hasn’t ruled out the possibility of again putting Becton at right tackle this season.

“He knows,” Saleh said. “We have a lot of really good tackles right now that are competing to be one of the two tackles that are on the football field. It will be a good, healthy competition and those that attack it with the right mindset will wind up reaping the benefits.”

This season marks a big year for Becton, as the Jets declined his fifth-year option and he will be a free agent next offseason. He is currently not participating at OTAs as he recovers from the injury he suffered last year.