Jets Country

Jets' Mekhi Becton Is Officially Out For 2022 Season

Since Becton's promising rookie year in 2020, the former first-round pick has played in a grand total of 48 snaps.

Max Goodman

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Mekhi Becton's season is officially over.

The Jets placed the offensive tackle on injured reserve on Tuesday.

Becton limped off the practice field in training camp on August 8, suffering an injury in his surgically-repaired right knee. Any optimism that Becton had dodged a significant injury disappeared when an MRI revealed the lineman had suffered a fracture to his right knee cap.

This comes after Becton missed virtually the entire 2021 season with an injury to that same knee. The former first-round pick got hurt in Week 1 last year, playing in fewer than 50 snaps. 

Becton will undergo knee surgery with Dr. Neal ElAttrache within the next week, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Becton recently visited ElAttrache—the same physician that performed Zach Wilson's knee surgery on Tuesday—for a consultation.

The expectation following Becton's injury was that the 23-year-old would likely miss the entire 2022 season. Placing him on IR confirms he won't be back until 2023.

New York also released four players on Tuesday (DE Tim Ward, CB Luq Barcoo, OL Derrick Kelly and WR Rashard Davis) to bring their roster down and reach the league-mandated 85-player maximum at camp.

The Jets responded to Becton's injury by signing veteran offensive lineman Duane Brown in free agency, filling Becton's shoes up front with a five-time Pro-Bowl tackle. 

Becton was set to start the year at right tackle with George Fant on the left side. With Brown joining the fray in green and white, Fant will swap back over to right tackle, allowing the 37-year-old Brown to continue playing on the left side. 

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Jets for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. He also covers the New York Yankees, publisher  of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Yankees site, Inside The Pinstripes. Before starting out with SI, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. While at school, Goodman gathered valuable experience as an anchor and reporter on NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. Goodman previously interned at MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman and connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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