Apparently, it’s going to take a “miracle” for Mekhi Becton’s second NFL season to not be over.
In a virtual version of his usual day-after media session Monday, Jets head coach Robert Saleh revealed that Becton is simply not healing as fast as hoped or anticipated after undergoing knee surgery in September, and “barring a miracle,” it’s unlikely Becton will play in the Jets’ final two games.
The head coach is “holding out hope,” as Becton has been working out apart from the team, but as he has yet to actually return to practice, it seems as if Week 1 will be Becton’s only action this season.
“Barring a miracle, right now, he’s probably not going to be here this week, and barring anything changing…we’re not ruling him out, but something is going to have to change,” Saleh admitted.
Becton was injured on what was Jets QB Zach Wilson's first touchdown pass in the second half of their season opener, and he underwent arthroscopic surgery on Sept. 21 to repair a partial dislocation of his right kneecap and damage to his MCL and cartilage. His initial recovery timeline was four to eight weeks, but when the high end of that timeline came and went in mid-November, there was still no indication the tackle was anywhere near ready to return.
Saleh has been asked repeatedly over the last few weeks and continues to give some variation of “no update,” but now, it looks like no news isn’t good news.
“You have a surgery, you’re expecting the time frame as you go through the healing process…but he’s a big man and everyone heals differently,” Saleh said. “There was no bad surgery or anything wrong with his rehab process, just the timeline we were anticipating isn’t exactly happening.”
Overall, 2021 has been an injury-filled calendar year for Becton, who missed most of OTAs this spring and summer dealing with plantar fasciitis, and then was questionable for Week 1 after suffering a concussion late in the preseason. Beyond that, he has also raised some questions about his conditioning, although Saleh has often said just because Becton is a sizable man doesn’t mean he’s out of shape.
“He is a very big man, and everyone heals differently. He had a little cleanup and it didn’t go the way we expected, but that doesn’t mean setbacks,” Saleh said. “He’s still working and putting in the effort. If we’re unable to get him back for next week, I know he’ll be back for 2022 and ready to roll. But it’s not a setback or laziness, it’s a matter of everybody’s body heals differently.”
George Fant has performed well at left tackle in Becton’s absence, but Saleh isn’t thinking about possibly moving Becton to right tackle or having a contingency plan because the former first-round pick is proving to be injury prone.
“Not yet. Obviously you always want to have good backups, so you’re always cognizant of contingency plans because you want a backup to be able to step in and play at a high level,” Saleh said, “but I’m not going to label him injury-prone. Sometimes it’s just a string of bad luck, but this will be a big offseason for him. In terms of getting his mind and body right so he’s able to have full OTAs and training camp and can come into the season and dominate the way we expect.”
The Jets will also be without center Connor McGovern and tight end Trevon Wesco for their final two games as well, with Saleh saying that McGovern suffered an MCL injury to his knee late in Sunday’s game. Wesco also suffered a knee injury in that game, and both were placed on injured reserve Monday afternoon to officially end their seasons.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
