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Any way you slice it, it’s not ideal . . .
We all know these off-season workouts, aside from the veteran minicamp, are voluntary, so you can’t force players to attend.
But the fact that Mekhi Becton hasn’t been in attendance, since the Jets’ off-season program started on April 18, can’t be considered a good thing for the team or the player.
I want to keep the focus purely on football here, and how it’s not ideal for a third-year player, coming off a serious injury, to miss workouts.
He reportedly hasn’t been in town since the beginning of the workouts to be with his girlfriend who was pregnant and recently had a baby.
“They just had their baby, so he’s obviously tending to that which is far more important than this,” said Jets coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday.
Not being judgemental about any of that. Just trying to keep this about football and the player’s development.
Remember, on April 30, during the Jets’ rookie minicamp, Saleh looked into a camera at a press conference and said to Becton: “We’d love you back here, buddy! Come on. We’ll take care of you.”
And Becton’s girlfriend was pregnant at the time, so perhaps Saleh felt that the player could have balanced both – attending some of the workouts – and caring for his girlfriend.
Not trying to put any words in Saleh’s mouth, just trying to interpret why he would send that message to Becton on camera in late April.
Look, you don’t need to be a fly on the wall in a private meeting between Saleh and Joe Douglas to know they would prefer that Becton attend the Jets’ off-season program.
First of all, he’s coming off a serious knee injury, suffered in Week One of last season, that kept him out the rest of the season, so they’d love to have their trainers working with him. Secondly, he’s had weight issues in the past, so they would love to have him work with their conditioning staff during the 30 off-season sessions, to help him get in great condition. Also, he might have to move to right tackle after George Fant did a heck of a job as the team’s left tackle after Becton’s injury. And perhaps right tackle would be a better spot for Becton anyway.
Watching OTA practice on Tuesday, Jets line coaches John Benton and Ben Wilkerson, were working a ton with the offensive linemen on technique.
And you saw guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, working on getting comfortable at his new position, right guard, after playing left guard last year with the Jets.
Moving from the left to right side can be a challenge, whether it’s at guard or tackle, and the spring is a good time to tweak your footwork and technique for the move.
“AVT” is doing that with the Jets line coaches.
“Everything about OTAs is really about technique, fundamentals, the violence part of it is not there because you don’t have pads on, but to be able to refamiliarize yourself with the scheme and what you’re being asked to do,” Saleh said in a general statement, not aimed at Becton. The question he was answering was not about Becton.
The Giants weren’t thrilled that second-year receiver Kardarius Toney wasn’t attending their off-season program, so they floated rumors he was on the trade block, and after the rumors, he showed up in East Rutherford and got to work.
Don’t see the Jets doing that, but you have to wonder if the selection of offensive tackle Max Mitchell in the 2022 fourth-round was to protect themselves if Becton’s “buy-in,” if you want to call it that, doesn’t change.
They love Fant, who is on the last year of his deal, and want to re-sign him. Mitchell has the earmarks of a starting right tackle down the road.
May 25, 2022
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