It does not sound as if the Jets are getting their starting left tackle back anytime soon.
Mekhi Becton, who had knee surgery eight weeks ago, remains “another few weeks” from returning, according to coach Robert Saleh. The time frame for him to return to practice is one to three weeks, Saleh said. His return to games will then be another few weeks after that.
Becton injured his right knee in the Week 1 loss to the Panthers. The Jets gave a timeline of four to eight weeks for the 2020 first-round pick’s return at the time of his surgery. But it will take longer. Saleh said Becton did not suffer a setback, but recovery from knee surgery is tougher for a 370-pound man.
“He’s a very, very large man, on a knee, and his body’s makeup, everyone heals differently,” Saleh said. “Mekhi’s just taking a couple extra weeks. Again, just a bigger body, bigger human. And so, we’re still confident that he’ll make it for the season.”
Saleh said that Becton needs to get back in football shape, but it is not because he has not been working. He simply has not been able to run as he recovered from surgery.
“He’s working relentlessly,” Saleh said. “He [needs] to get out on the field so he can run and get back into football playing shape. But, it’s not from a lack of going through his rehab and attacking it the way he knows how.”
Bills WR Stefon Diggs had a monster day against the Jets on Sunday with eight catches for 162 yards and a touchdown. Diggs did much of his damage against one-on-one coverage from cornerbacks Brandin Echols and Javelin Guidry. Saleh took some heat for not giving his corners more help against Diggs.
Saleh explained what happened Monday.
“We’ve got to do a better job,” Saleh said. “We had some things that, from a schematic standpoint, were designed to take care of Diggs, but from an execution standpoint and communication and coaching standpoint, it just didn’t get done the way it was supposed to. That’s been a lot of the discussion this morning on why certain things, certain balls that he caught should have never been caught because the coverage should have said something different based on where he was aligned. Again, a young team trying to execute, kind of tweaking a game plan and trying to do something different and it just didn’t come out the way we were hoping it would. That starts with coaching and we’ve got to find a way to give these guys a better chance to be able to execute.”
Echols, who has started every game this season, is out three to five weeks with a quad injury.