It should have been a wake-up call for the Jets when Mekhi Becton fell to the ground Monday morning and grabbed at his surgically repaired right knee.
But on Monday night, when it became clear that Becton’s injury was worse than initially expected – a source confirmed that Becton suffered a new injury to the knee that was more concerning – it should have felt as if a five-alarm fire had been called into the team’s Florham Park facility.
They need help on the offensive line. And GM Joe Douglas needs to deliver it soon.
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Before we go any further, let’s not forget about Becton and the gut-wrenching position he is in given the latest news. By all accounts, he did everything within his power to get himself ready for the 2022 season.
Jets coach Robert Saleh said Becton, 23, stayed at the team’s facility during the entire break between offseason workouts and training camp. Nearly a year since the last time since he set foot on the field for a practice or a game, he pushed through two blazingly hot weeks of training camp practice, only for it all to come crashing down less than a few days before the first preseason game.
After missing 18 games in his first two seasons because of injury, there is concern that Becton is going to miss many more in 2022 according to multiple reports. This is a nightmare for the 2020 first-round pick, and it’s impossible not to feel for him.
But the truth was, even before Becton’s latest injury, the Jets needed more help and depth on the offensive line. And now that Becton is in danger of missing significant time, the sense of urgency should only be ratcheted up further.
Going into the regular season without a proven offensive tackle would be reckless, considering what’s at stake this year.
And that’s why they need to do everything in their power to sign the guy they’ve been flirting with in recent days.
Duane Brown, a 15-year veteran who made the Pro Bowl for the fifth time last year, had a free-agent visit with the Jets on Saturday at the Green and White practice. They should have made it a point to sign him even before Becton went down with his latest injury.
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There’s too much at stake this season for them not to.
Quarterback Zach Wilson struggled as a rookie and now he’s facing a second year that feels like it might be make-or-break. If the Jets can’t protect him, it’ll be impossible to evaluate if Wilson is the quarterback of the team’s future.
Relying on Becton, given his injury history, would have been reckless.
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But the Jets, if you believe what they say publicly, would have been willing to do that.
“We really do like our backup situation,” Saleh said Monday, noting that their top backup tackle, Conor McDermott was expected to return from his low-ankle injury in next week or two. “I know McDermott hurt, but he’ll be back, he’ll be fine. He’s started games for us, Chuma’s [Edoga] started games for us. Getting a guy like Duane Brown is kind of being spoiled in a sense of just having so much great talent at one position.
But after the news on Becton on Monday night, adding a guy like Brown is no longer a luxury. It’s a necessity.
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Andy Vasquez may be reached at [email protected].