Mekhi Becton addresses his doubters with custom shirt
New York Jets social media continues to buzz with speculation about offensive tackle Mekhi Becton. While head coach Robert Saleh provided an update on Becton’s injury status and availability, it’s what Saleh refused to say that has fans worried.
Saleh declined to comment about Becton’s weight, saying only that his knee is fine and that he should be ready to go for training camp. This is what Connor Hughes of The Athletic had to say about Saleh’s evasiveness:
Robert Saleh & others have gone out of their way to openly praise — over & over again — Denzel Mims for being in incredible shape. They’ve done same with Zach Wilson gaining muscle.
If Becton was also in great shape, or at weight they wanted, they wouldn’t stop saying it.
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) June 15, 2022
Some might say that this is a stretch or nitpicking. That could very well be the case. But the fact remains that Saleh has gone out of his way to compliment Zach Wilson and Denzel Mims on their physical conditioning. The omission of any such comments about Becton speaks volumes, since he is the one whose physical shape is the most in question.
Becton clearly hears the doubters and the rumors. He has adopted the moniker “The Big Bust” instead of his usual “Big Ticket.” On Wednesday, he showed up for his press conference with a shirt reading “Big Bust” encircled by the words “fat,” “lazy,” “injury prone,” and “out of shape.” Becton takes all of this doubt as motivation.
#Jets OT Mekhi Becton showed up to his press conference wearing a shirt that says "BIG BUST" & surrounded with words like "Fat, lazy, injury prone, out of shape."
Becton doesn't understand why people are writing him off. "I'll make them eat their words."pic.twitter.com/ryWVdKAvnc
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) June 15, 2022
When asked whether people have written him off, Becton said, “Yeah, and I don’t understand why. But it’s all good, though. I’m going to make them eat their words.”
That’s quite a statement from the behemoth left tackle. He continued on to say that he intends to win the starting left tackle position but is willing to play on the right side, as well.
While many expect George Fant to start on the left side due to his clearly superior play on the left side vs. the right, it would no doubt calm the minds of many Jets fans to see Becton make it an actual competition.
There is still a month and a half until training camp. Becton has time to get back into playing shape, but the questions and rumors continue to swirl. Becton now has time and motivation to put his money where his mouth is.
Audio Version available to members only: Learn more here
All I care about is whether Becton is in shape for TC and how he plays after that. He is coming off a major injury and is still rehabbing. It would be natural for him to be somewhat out of shape and overweight Rehabbing an injury is different than doing aerobic conditioning or working to lose weight.
I’d agree if not for a few things: first of all, the fact that he not only blew past the 4-6 week timeline for rehab, but missed the entire season and is still rehabbing at this point, is alarming. It means that either the Jets hugely misevaluated his injury or Mekhi is taking much, much longer in his rehab than he should have. Though Becton’s trainer seems to claim it’s closer to the former, many Jets fans suspect that it’s the latter.
Until the last few weeks, we didn’t even have any idea that his knee still required rehab. Hearing that was already a concern. Now to see him show up out of shape with Saleh refusing to comment on it is highly disconcerting. So much of the Jets’ season is tied to Mekhi’s successful return.
I trust Duke Manyweather much more than I do Jets fans many of whom are cynical, impatient, ignorant, and some of whom never wanted Becton in the first place. It was a more serious injury than Saleh claimed and is largely to blame for underselling it. It sounds to me that Saleh has a problem with Becton. Between the two, Saleh would be the one to go if I was running the team. Saleh needs to get his own house in order and do his job a lot better. His D sucked, and his practice regimen may have led to some of the injury issues the Jets had. His attitude with Becton has been really bad. I read 2-3 months ago that Becton was still rehabbing and unable to work on conditioning, so have no idea why you just learned that a couple of weeks ago. No has said that Becton showed up out of shape, but even if he is, again, when one is rehabbing one cannot work on conditioning. This all stems from Connor Hughes’ speculatory comments that were out of line. He’s just stirring the pot and trying to get clicks and listeners.
I would have trusted Duke more than Jets’ fans too except that the information coming out of Dallas was that Becton was at a good weight. It’s not his conditioning that has fans so up in arms; everyone understands that it takes some time to get back into game shape. But in the glimpses we got of him on the field and at the press conference, he appeared to be in the 390 pound range. That’s concerning.
I agree 100% that it’s Saleh’s fault for underselling it. I don’t know why he did so, and you have to wonder if it was intentional all along or if the Jets’ medical staff just gaffed. I also agree that Saleh should focus on his side of the ball, even though he’s the head coach, and let LaFleur do his thing. He’s sort of stringing the fan base along by refusing to address the elephant in the room, but the rest of it shouldn’t be his purview.
The concern regarding Becton’s inability to work on conditioning is that it persisted into May and June, not just that it was going on in March. I read the same reports you did but had been under the impression all along that Becton would be good to go by minicamp. It seems to me that this was a pretty commonplace assumption.
We can debate whether Hughes’s comment was out-of-line clickbait or a legitimate point. I’ve heard both points of view from Jets fans. Personally, I believe that there is some merit to it, but I can hear the argument that it’s totally blown out of proportion.
Ultimately, if Becton is in shape by training camp, this is all a whole lot of noise about nothing. Minicamp headlines are often overblown to generate buzz in the absence of anything more substantial.
Your last sentence/paragraph is basically what I said in my initial response. I’m not going to obsess and worry about it unless or until it becomes a reality. I believe Becton when he said that he is going to make people eat their words and prove them wrong. He is a huge man, and most of it is muscle mass. His body fat content is not very high. He’s working with a dietician. I believe that he will be ready. Jets fans like to obsess over potential negatives. Many, are cynical and very negative in their perspectives, probably due to the Jets’ sorry history. I’ve seen it on Jets fan sites/forums for over 20 years. Most of it is utter BS. It’s just guys (mostly) wanting to try to prove that they’re smarter than anyone else and who want to be the first one to point something out. Things are changing. We finally have a quality GM who knows what he’s doing and who has a solid plan. We have the right organizational chart where JD is calling the shots/running the team and the HC reports to him. We have more young talent than perhaps we’ve had at any time in our history. There are a LOT of positives about the Jets these days, yet some just want to look for and focus on only the negatives. IMO it’s time for Jets fans to stop with all the hysteria, obsessing, and negative BS. It’s why I will never post on a Jets forum again. They’re unreadable, insulting to my intelligence, and depressing.
I hope that I don’t have to unsubscribe from jetsxfactor, but if the negativity here doesn’t stop, I will.
Yes, that’s true. The thing is that in the absence of other more newsworthy items, many fans are going to obsess over Becton.
The data about his muscle mass and overall work to get in shape is encouraging. He’s definitely taking the negative press as motivation.
Yes, Jets fans do obsess over negatives. It’s a common trait among those who have been burned one time or 1000 times too many. This is a classic defense mechanism, trying to anticipate the problems so you don’t get hurt by hope.
Overall, there is a lot of optimism surrounding the fan base. I think that Jets fans think better of the team than the national media does, which gives fans something to use as fuel. People recognize that Douglas has the team on the right track. It’s just that Murphy’s Law has sunk its tentacles into this team over the last decade-plus, so it’s hard not to wait for the other shoe to drop.
I totally understand. I’ve been a Jets fan since 1964 and have seen a LOT more bad than good, and have seen more dumb ownership moves, bad hires, horrible drafting, incompetence, ineptness, and bad luck than most Jets fans. Before JD was hired I had about lost hope, but made a decision that I was never going to become a negative nellie like many Jets fans and hang on when they have no hope. If I can remain positive, and not obsess over potential negativity, they can too. It’s a choice. I believe that many “Jets fans” are not really fans any longer. It’s just a habit that they can’t break. They hate the Johnsons, think JD has done a poor job as GM and he, along with Saleh, Ulbrich, and LaFleur should be fired if the Jets don’t win this year. Many didn’t want the Jets to draft Zach. They wanted the Jets to trade down or take Fields. Some didn’t like the trade up for AVT last year. They criticize every single move the Jets make. That is NOT being a fan imo.
Many also believe that they are stuck being Jets fans whatever happens. I say that is insane. We made the choice to become Jets fans at some point in our lives, and we can choose not to be fans any longer. We can choose to follow another team, or to do something else with our time. I honestly think that some people want to be unhappy and just have something to complain about.
At any rate, I’m going to enjoy the Jets. I have hope and I am confident that Zach is going to be a top 10, if not a top 5 QB in the NFL within a year or two, and that the Jets are going to become one of the top teams in the NFL and stay that way for a while.
It’s impressive to make such a choice to keep believing that things can get better for your team. You’re right that when you seriously have no hope for them anymore, not just for now but for the future, you’re not really a fan. Fandom is all about hope.
There is room to hate some of those people or criticize them but still be a fan. Certainly there is blame to go around, but it’s impossible to look at the moves Douglas has made this offseason and say that he did not do a good job. Fans may debate over the “best” moves in free agency and the draft, but there is no doubt that he made the Jets a substantially better team. If not for how stacked the AFC is, I believe that many people would be picking the Jets as a sleeper playoff team. It’s also hard not to give LaFleur at least some credit for the adjustments he made with the personnel lacks he faced.
There is a lot to like about the direction in which the Jets are heading. That excitement is what makes being a fan so great.