The New York Jets offensive line needs to improve, and head coach Robert Saleh’s patience is growing thin.
Saleh blasted the offensive line in a rant on the second episode of HBO’s Hard Knocks for their poor play in a recent practice with the Carolina Panthers. Things didn’t improve Wednesday, as the Jets allowed six sacks in a scuffle-filled joint session with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The line’s struggles offer a prime opportunity for former first-round pick Mekhi Becton to step forward and assert himself. The No. 11 overall pick in 2020, the offensive tackle has spent most of his career sidelined. He played only one game in 2021 and missed all of last season because of injuries.
Saleh said this is a chance for Becton, but he has to prove himself.
“The biggest thing for Mekhi is to show that he can play a game without having to be spelled out,” Saleh said (via the New York Post). “It’s unfair to the team to prepare a guy to start if you are not sure he can make it through a game. He is moving in the right direction. I thought he had a big step against Carolina in that game.”
Saleh expected Becton to get some time at right tackle in practice. That spot offers Becton the quickest route to becoming a starter.
“As soon as the [coaching] staff, training staff and everyone feels comfortable that he’s able to show that and stack days up, definitely start rotating him to compete,” Saleh said. “I think he is realizing he loves the game of football and he wants to be out there. If part of our best-five [line] is him playing right tackle, I think he’s on board.”
Whether Becton is part of the solution or not, the Jets need to fix the O-line. As Saleh pointed out in his Hard Knocks rant, it doesn’t matter that the team landed star quarterback Aaron Rodgers to complement other weapons if the line doesn’t function.
“You can have a Hall of Fame quarterback, you can have two $10 million-plus receivers, you can have the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year, you can have all kinds of skill in the running back room, but none of it (expletive) matters until the big boys up front change who the **** we are,” Saleh said.
Jets HC Robert Saleh snapped on his OL after their joint practice with the Panthers 😳 #HardKnocks pic.twitter.com/QZH61XBOa2
— NFL Retweet (@NFLRT) August 16, 2023
