'Barring a Miracle,' Mekhi Becton's Season Is Over

Becton's sophomore season featured just 48 snaps on offense, all during New York's season opener against the Panthers in September.

Three-plus months after Mekhi Becton was carted to the locker room with a knee injury, it finally sounds like the left tackle's season is over.

Jets head coach Robert Saleh said on Monday that "barring a miracle," Becton will sit for the final two games of the regular season.

"We’re not ruling him out, but something’s going to have to change," Saleh told reporters 

If that's the case and Becton doesn't play the rest of the way, his second NFL season will come to a close after a grand total of just 48 snaps on offense. 

The tackle went down with an injury during New York's opener in Carolina. He underwent knee surgery shortly thereafter and it's been a long road to recovery ever since.

"He is a very big man," Saleh said. "Everyone heals a little bit differently. I know he had a little bit of a cleanup in there and it didn’t go the way everyone was expecting, but it didn’t mean that there were setbacks or anything. He’s still working, he’s still putting in the effort."

Robert Saleh says that "barring a miracle," Mekhi Becton will be out for the rest of the year: pic.twitter.com/Lk32SGAPJw

— Jets Videos (@snyjets) December 27, 2021

This is the first concrete update from Saleh in a while as the head coach has been peppered with questions from reporters regarding Becton's status each week practically all season long. Initially, the 22-year-old (listed at 363 pounds) was scheduled to miss four-to-six weeks. It's been 15 weeks since his injury took place. 

Saleh clarified that the surgery went as planned and there were no hiccups, but his timeframe has continued to change. Surely conditioning has been a factor as well.

"He’s a very, very big man and it just heals differently," the head coach explained. "So, there’s no bad surgery, there was no bad rehab process, there’s no ill intent on his part, it’s not healing the way or the speed at which we were anticipating. It wasn’t anything malicious from anyone’s side, it’s just unfortunate. But confident we’ll get him back and ready to roll hopefully next week, but worst case scenario 2022."

It's one thing to be confident that Becton can return next season and perform at an important position on the offensive line, like he did during his rookie year, but New York has a decision to make over the next few months. 

Should the Jets keep left tackle open for Becton, their first-round pick from the 2020 NFL draft, or would it be smarter to draft a new prospect next spring? The Jets could even continue to roll with George Fant, who has performed all season long at the position in Becton's place. 

READ: C.J. Mosley Is Having a Career Year, Leading the Jets' Defense

Saleh acknowledged that it's always important to have contingency plans at each position on an NFL roster, but when asked directly about Becton's future, he chose not to speak about the subject. After all, Becton has plenty of time to prove that he's back up to speed. Playing him over the final few games of the year would have been questionable regardless.

Either way, Saleh's confidence in the player, despite a lost season due to an injury, evidently hasn't wavered. 

"For Mekhi, this is going to be a big offseason for him in terms of getting his body right, getting his mind right, getting himself ready to play as quickly as possible so he can have a full set of OTAs, which he’s never had, a full training camp, which he really has never had, and get himself into the season so he can dominate the way we all know he can."

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