After virtually two years off the field, Mekhi Becton said it was a great moment when he was named the Jets’ starting right tackle.
But the fourth-year player had to overcome more than just multiple knee surgeries to earn his spot in the starting five protecting Aaron Rodgers. He also had to overcome his own ego.
“Sometimes you gotta take a step back and put ego aside and just do what’s best for the team,” Becton told the media after practice Tuesday. “And that’s my main thing right now, just doing what’s best for the team and I wanna be on the field with my teammates.”
Before training camp, Becton had indicated an unwillingness to play right tackle and indicated he wanted to compete for the starting left tackle role. But that changed in camp and after featuring almost exclusively on the right side during preseason play, Becton was named the Week 1 starter earning the trust of head coach Robert Saleh and the Jets' veteran quarterback.
"He's come a long way, really proud of him, as much as anybody on the team,” Rodgers said. “The way that Mekhi has grown this month has been really spectacular.”
Playing and being healthy entering the season is a huge step for the former 11th overall pick who had to undergo multiple surgeries on his knee and being named a starter was special for him.
“It was pretty cool. It was a great moment for sure,” Becton said, “for all the work I put in these past two years, so it was definitely great.”
But he added that this was an expectation he had for himself coming into this camp.
“I wanted to be a part of the [starting] five no matter what,” Becton said. “I wouldn't say I'm surprised… it’s the work that I put in, I still have a lot of things I still need to do. It’s just another block at this point that I gottta build on.”
And when asked if he is ready for the grind of a full game, Becton said that despite not playing a full game in the preseason he still feels like he is ready for the regular season.
“I’ve been putting in all this work I feel like I have no choice but to be ready,” he said Tuesday.
After playing the most snaps he has in some time in the Jets’ preseason finale, Becton said he got "even more comfortable" during the game against the Giants, but it was just another building block for him heading into the season and that he is “really confident” in his knee.
A confidence he gained from “multiple reps of doing the same thing over and over every day. Just, muscle memory at this point.”
And with the Week 1 matchup against the Buffalo Bills in 12 days, Becton said he is “ready to go put in some work.”
"We not gonna say too many things," he said about the Jets' offense, "we just gonna go ball out like we supposed to."