Jets coach Robert Saleh declined to fire back at disgruntled tackle Mekhi Becton on Tuesday.
Becton criticized Saleh in a Newsday article over the weekend, saying the coach’s decision to play him at right tackle in training camp last year led to him injuring his knee.
“I’m not going to get into the negative of all of it,” Saleh said before an OTA practice on Tuesday. “It’s not about finger pointing. What I’m focused on, though, is over the last six months Mekhi has done an unbelievable job of getting his weight down to where it’s a healthy weight that’s sustainable. He’s been available during OTAs. He’s been prompt and very diligent with regards to meetings. I think he’s probably in the best shape of his life. He’s got a smile on his face and he’s attacking it. That’s what is most important.
“Whatever happened in the past, happened in the past. It’s not about finger pointing. It’s about moving forward. If he keeps approaching this offseason the way he has and he keeps attacking it the way he has, excited to see what he does with this fourth year.”
Becton has only played one game in the last two years, but that did not stop him from blasting the Jets coaches in the article, and also asserting that he is a left tackle and does not want to play right tackle.
“It made no sense to put me at right tackle,” Becton told Newsday. “I hurt my right knee. That’s going to be the knee that I put the most pressure on [while backpedaling in pass protection]. I explained it [to the coaches], but no one cared.
“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,” he added. “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.”
Saleh said they have discussed that Becton may need to play right tackle and he will be competing with Duane Brown, Max Mitchell and others for the two starting spots.
“He knows,” Saleh said. “We have a lot of really good tackles right now that are competing to be one of the two tackles that are on the football field. It will be a good, healthy competition and those that attack it with the right mindset will wind up reaping the benefits.”
Becton is not participating in OTA practices right now as he recovers from the season-ending knee injury he suffered in training camp last year.