First came the glamour shots, and now comes the excuses. For New York Jets offensive tackle (we won’t call him their left tackle just yet) Mekhi Becton, it seems to be an offseason about telling everyone why he thinks things have gone wrong, instead of fixing them.

Recently, Becton complained to Newsday’s Bob Glauber about how he blames the coaches for his disastrous, if non-existent, 2022 campaign. 

“I got forced to play a position I don’t play, and then I was pretty much telling them I wasn’t feeling good the whole time throughout camp, and I was told I shouldn’t be complaining. Go out there and do it. I was limping throughout the whole practice, and I just took a step and my knee buckled and I got hurt again and had to get reconstructive surgery.” – Mekhi Becton to Newsday’s Bob Glauber

Becton, who was drafted 11^th overall in 2020, has played in a total 15 games in his career. Fifteen games in 3 years. That is fifteen games out of a possible 49. That’s less than a third of the games since he has been in the league.

The only thing Becton should be saying to his team (especially through the media) with a record like that is two words: “I’m sorry”. 

Becton’s resurgence was supposed to happen last year. But his preseason injury which was supposed to last 8-10 weeks kept him out for the entire 18-week regular season. Reports were that Becton appeared to have no sense of urgency to return to the field.

You can’t fault a guy for getting hurt. These things happen in the NFL and fans should wish injury on nobody. But the one thing a player shouldn’t do is blame others for their injuries. Becton didn’t get hurt because coaches made him do some inhumane stunt. Coaches didn’t force him back months before he was ready. No player gave him a cheap shot that threatened his career. As he said, his knee just buckled. Again.

Being injured is part of the game. Tom Brady missed an entire season with a knee injury. No player is immune to injury. The problem for Becton is his apparent lack of desire to return to the field and his complaining in the media that has many fans soured on the former top pick.

The fact is Becton has been overweight and out of shape since securing his rookie deal and has learned why players need to stay in top shape in order to last in this league. He complains about being forced to play a position he doesn’t play, but how can he be counted on at the most important position on the offensive line?

For a guy who is meant to play a position that is about protecting the team and putting his body on the line, Becton is doing his best impression of a diva wide receiver.

Becton sounds like a petulant child who is blaming everyone else for his short comings as an athlete. He is spending this offseason posting gym bathroom selfies as a way to show how hard he is working this offseason. This work should have been put in from day one. Not year four. Some players need to learn that lesson the hard way and the Jets not wasting any time picking up his fifth-year option might just be the wakeup call Becton needs.

Becton believes he will be the starting left tackle with a week of training camp starting. Currently Becton is buried on the depth chart but was quick to put on social media (and then deleting it) that he is the left tackle. To his credit Robert Saleh gave the perfect response to his twitter whining, “go earn the left tackle”. 

The Jets owe Becton nothing. Until he proves otherwise, Becton can be counted on for nothing. Imagine being a guy on the team who grinded through every single practice and every painful loss and fought through every injury to put it all on the line for his teammates to read how it was someone else’s fault that the second most important person on the offense is unavailable for essentially the second season in a row. 

He should be given every opportunity to earn a spot on the team, a spot on the line and yes, even the starting left tackle job. But as Saleh said, he needs to earn it.