Jets' Mekhi Becton excited to play in Hall of Fame Game, willing to play right tackle

Jets tackle Mekhi Becton has played in just one regular season game over the last two seasons, but he's excited to get back on the field and is treating Thursday night’s preseason opener just like a regular season game.

“I don’t even care if it’s preseason or whatever,” Becton said about playing in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton against the Cleveland Browns.

Becton, who is expected to play between 20-25 snaps, said that he is “still in the healing process” of his recovery from knee surgery that kept him sidelined for the 2022 season, adding “I feel great, moving great, look great.”

“These past few days have been my best few days in a while,” Becton said. “I’m feelin’ confident, feelin' comfortable. I’m ready to go.”

Head coach Robert Saleh added he has been “very encouraged” with the tackle’s recent progress.

“This is about him getting comfortable with his knee,” Saleh said. “His power is undeniable, his talent is undeniable. His knowledge of the game is undeniable. He’s gotten a lot better over the last couple of weeks.”

Becton stayed in New Jersey over the offseason to train and is down to 350 pounds, the lightest he has been since college.

“I’m lighter, I’m faster, I feel like I’m stronger. Those are the most important points to my game that I feel like I’ve improved on,” he said.

“His conditioning has gotten a lot better because football conditioning is way different than running around on grass and lifting weights, that’s gotten a lot better,” Saleh said. “Excited for him to take another step.

“And so for him, this is about getting comfortable with his knee and getting confident so that he can just unleash everything that he’s capable of."

For Becton his goal is simple: To be a starter in Week 1.

“I’m just gonna keep grinding and keep stacking days like I been doing, that’s just my whole mindset,” he said. “Just keep getting better, get one percent better each day.”

And, despite his past stance about only playing left tackle, Becton now said he is open to playing either tackle position: “Wherever they want me, I just want to be on the field.”

But playing on the right side puts more stress on his twice-repaired right knee and he has only played on the left side in camp thus far.

On that knee, Becton said he believes he got the wrong surgery when he initially sustained an MCL injury in the 2021 season opener.

“My knee was never fully healed [last year]. I didn’t get the right surgery that I was supposed to get,” Becton said about the first procedure he underwent in 2021, which he said contributed to last year’s injury. “When I had talked to the doctor, I was trying to get the smaller surgery so I could come back and play that year, but my knee never healed correctly so I shoulda [in 2021] just went and got the six-month surgery that I ended up getting last year.”

Zach Wilson to start Thursday

It should come as no surprise that Aaron Rodgers will not play Thursday and third-year man Zach Wilson will start at quarterback.

Saleh said there are, “no expectations” for Wilson's play in the preseason opener.

“Just go out there and just play, do what he’s been doing in practice,” he said. “Show that confidence, the timing, rhythm, he’s been performing really well in practice, just take it to the field and do the best you can. No expectations with stats or anything like that.

“Excited with the direction he’s going, but just excited for him to get back on the field again.”

Rodgers said he is hoping to participate Thursday by getting on the headset to call in plays to demonstrate to the coaches how he likes to communicate.

“I always tell the coaches, if you just slow down and enunciate it goes a lot easier,” the veteran QB said. “And if every now and then they would just let me get on the headset and go ‘Oh, that’s how you like it?’ I’d say yeah.

“You only have to say it once if you enunciate and slow it down.”