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Most of the guys on this list, it’s not a big deal . . .
We talked about the NFI list yesterday, and today, let’s turn to PUP.
On Thursday, the Jets put placed offensive tackles Mekhi Becton and George Fant, tight end C.J. Uzomah, defensive end Carl Lawson and guard Dru Samia on the PUP list.
The Fant, Uzomah, Lawson and Samia moves are probably not a big deal. They just need a little more time to get right.
But why is Becton on this list?
We are talking about a player who hurt his knee in the Jets opener last year, but it wasn’t considered a season-ending injury, and perhaps an eight-week malady.
But he ended up missing the entire season. Maybe it was unfair to put a timetable on his potential return, but it makes you realize that the team didn’t consider a season-ending injury.
It turned into that.
His weight might have contributed to the rehab taking longer. It’s reported he was in the high 300’s last year. When it comes to knee rehabs, a lot of weight on that knee can’t help the healing process. Robert Saleh has said in the past, “He’s a big man” in regards to the healing process.
Saleh commented on Becton during an appearance on CBS Sports HQ before camp:
“You know, Mekhi has been really good for the last 40 days,” Saleh said. “He was in the building every day and did the job. He doesn’t have any knee limitations as far as I understand. His weight goes down. He’s looking really good and we’re very excited to see the direction he’s going in.”
If he’s been in the building the last 40 days, and there is no knee issue, why is he on the PUP list?
This is a little odd.
The only guess here is that his weight is still not where the Jets want, so they don’t want him out there, and possibly getting hurt, because he’s too heavy.
When you pick guys who are very large players, sometimes it can be risky.
Bill Parcells once said, “Once a [big] guy, always a [big] guy.”
But remember, after the Jets drafted Becton, ESPNU Radio’s Danny Kanell, a former NFL QB said: “My only concern is he’s too big – can he eat himself out of the NFL? That can be a problem sometimes.”
Kanell added, “He probably should be playing at 340.”
Joe Douglas has done a terrific job as Jets GM, even though the record hasn’t been great under his watch. Florham Park wasn’t built in a day.
But in the case of this player, some might argue that perhaps the player wasn’t vetted as well as he could have been.
Douglas is a guy who is known as a great vetter. He really is. He does a heck of job, with his staff, at turning over every stone, and analyzing draft prospects to the nth degree.
However, with Becton, this might have not been the best vetting job from the standpoint that Douglas clearly thought the player would probably work harder at his conditioning and weight.
C’mon now, it’s common sense – of course Douglas thought that.
And the player starting camp on PUP, is a little bit of a surprise.
You have to wonder if Becton had attended more of the Jets’ off-season program, perhaps he avoids the PUP list to start camp.
July 22, 2022
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