NY Jets: Mekhi Becton injury not as bad as initially feared

Justin Fried

NY Jets, Mekhi Becton / Mike Comer/Getty Images

The NY Jets had a major injury scare when promising young left tackle Mekhi Becton went down with a potentially significant knee injury in the third quarter of the team's 19-14 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Becton had his knee rolled up on the same play that Zach Wilson threw his first career touchdown pass. The immediate fear was that Becton had suffered a potentially major knee injury.

However, initial tests have revealed that Becton only sustained an MCL sprain as opposed to anything more detrimental, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Rapoport did indicate that Becton would still undergo an MRI to confirm the diagnosis, but that the initial tests were encouraging.

An MCL sprain could keep Becton for up to 1-2 months, but given that the alternative was possibly a season-ending injury, that's certainly a promising development.

The NY Jets received good news about Mekhi Becton's injury

Becton is entering his second year in the NFL after an excellent rookie campaign that saw him emerge as one of the best young offensive tackles in the league.

His play last season was so spectacular that, in a survey of over 50 NFL personnel, Becton was ranked as the sixth-best offensive tackle heading into the 2021 season.

That's high praise for a guy who didn't even turn 22-years-old until this past April.

Becton had an up-and-down summer, but was looking forward to taking a huge leap in year two. Unfortunately, he'll likely miss a chunk of the regular season now.

All things considered, however, the injury could have been a lot worse than it turned out to be. The team will await word on the official confirmation, but this has to be considered a positive update.

The Jets will hope to get Mekhi Becton back on the field as soon as possible.

Justin Fried

Justin Fried is an editor for FanSided who has over seven years of experience covering the NFL and various other sports. A diehard Jets fan since birth, Justin has served as the editor for The Jet Press since 2019, interviewing athletes such as Sauce Gardner, Curtis Martin, LaDainian Tomlinson, Joe Klecko, and many others. Justin has also worked closely with brands like Red Bull to help highlight the niche sectors of the sporting world. His four-part series on the sport of breaking remains one of his proudest pieces of work. In his spare time, Justin is an avid pro wrestling fan who is fortunate enough to have traveled to nearly 30 different countries.