Category: Jets Training Camp

Mekhi Becton has earned starters reps, playing his way into starting lineup

Time to give Becton a shot as the starting right tackle.

For the past few weeks, the New York Jets had a dilemma at the offensive tackle positions. Duane Brown remains on the physically unable to perform list and has not practiced since training camp began on July 19. Max Mitchell and Billy Turner had been running as the starting tackles in the meantime and neither has been able to run away with a starting job. So questions began mounting about whether the offensive line would derail what has the potential to be a great season for the Jets.

But a former first-round pick may end up saving the day after all. In recent weeks, Mekhi Becton had been running with the second team and was getting reps at left tackle. He was hesitant to make the move to right tackle and understandably so. He felt he was moved around too quickly last season and was rushed back from his knee injury and that helped lead to his season-ending knee injury in camp last year.

Fast forward to just last week and now Becton is becoming more open to playing right tackle. He took his first reps at the position in practice last week and saw about 25 snaps during Saturday’s preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Per Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic, Becton played 18 pass-blocking snaps and didn’t allow a single pressure. Rosenblatt added that the Jets ran eight times for 76 yards with Becton on the field compared to 29 yards on eight carries when he was not on the field.

Granted, Becton has mostly done this against second-team players, but he has shown the ability throughout the preseason to be able to play well against top competition. There’s only one way now to find that out and that’s to allow Becton to work with the first-team offense, especially now that quarterback Aaron Rodgers will see playing time in Saturday’s preseason finale against the New York Giants. Of course, it’s no guarantee the rest of the starting line will be available. Head coach Robert Saleh said “we’ll see” when asked about if starters Alijah Vera-Tucker, Laken Tomlinson and Brown will return this week.

Still, allowing Becton the chance to block for Rodgers and get into the starting lineup should continue to boost his confidence, which has only grown since camp started. He played under 10 snaps in the Hall of Fame Game against the Browns and about 25 each against the Panthers and Buccaneers.

The regular season starts in three weeks. The Jets have to start figuring something out, especially with the stretch they have to start the season — their first six games are against the Bills, Cowboys, Patriots, Chiefs, Broncos and Eagles.

Now is the time to see if Becton can work his way back into the starting lineup, especially in what is now a contract year for him. The Jets declined to pick up his Fifth-Year Option, making him a free agent after this season. His play could not only make or break his career in the NFL but also the success of the Jets in 2023, a season in which they feel they now have Super Bowl aspirations. Let’s see what the man can do at this point.

Injury update: Israel Abanikanda suffers thigh contusion vs. Buccaneers

Update on Abanikanda

Jets running back Israel Abanikanda left Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with an injury and had to be helped off the field as he struggled to put weight on his right leg.

After the game, head coach Robert Saleh have an update on the rookie running back, saying he suffered a thigh contusion, a positive update after the initial look seemed down with him needing help off the field.

Abanikanda had four carries for 30 yards before leaving the game in the fourth quarter. The fifth-round pick out of Pittsburgh should be in good shape to make the 53-man roster with Zonovan Knight —- eight rushes, 33 yards —- looks to be squarely on the roster bubble.

“Him [Knight] and Izzy are doing a really nice job, making it hard on us,” Saleh said Saturday.

The Jets have one more game of evaluation against the New York Giants before final cuts next week.

Lions waive/injure WR Denzel Mims, Jets won’t receive 2025 pick

Mims’ time with Detroit is already over.

The Lions are moving on from wide receiver Denzel Mims after just a few weeks. The team is releasing the former Jet with an injury designation, per Ian Rapoport. A practice ankle injury led to a calf injury during rehab for Mims.

As a result of the Lions cutting Mims, the Jets will not receive a 2025 draft pick from the Lions. The condition for the pick to convey to the Jets was that Mims had to make the 53-man roster. That will obviously not happen now, so Detroit will keep their pick.

Mims reportedly was impressing during camp and seemed to have a shot to make the roster. The Lions could release him with an injury settlement and he could land elsewhere. For now, he’s done with the Lions and the Jets won’t get their pick down the line.

With Jets canceling 2nd joint practice with Tampa Bay, Giants offer practice field to Bucs

The Bucs will use the Giants facility Thursday after the Jets canceled their second joint practice with Tampa Bay

The Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were originally supposed to hold a pair of joint practices together this week leading up to their preseason game Saturday night, but they’re limiting it to just one day. The Jets recently decided to cancel the second practice, citing safety concerns.

Head coach Robert Saleh said the second joint practice tends to get more chippy and cause more injuries — and things were chippy anyway on Wednesday; cornerback Javelin Guidry was lost for the season with a knee injury.

To help accommodate the Buccaneers, who lost a joint practice, the New York Giants offered their practice field to Tampa Bay on Thursday and the team will hold a walkthrough on Friday before the game on Saturday.

So with no joint practice Thursday, the Jets are done with those for the summer. They are not scheduled to hold joint practices with the Giants next week, likely due to the teams playing during the regular season.

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Watch: Quinnen Williams letting everyone know about his 10 sacks

Quinnen is on a roll to the surprise of no one.

Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams became the second-highest paid defensive tackle in the NFL this offseason when he signed a four-year deal that averages $24 million per year. He isn’t taking long to remind people why he is worth that much.

Hard Knocks cameras caught video of the Jets’ joint practices last week with the Carolina Panthers and they included a typical performance from Williams, constantly wreaking havoc on opposing offenses. He claims to have registered 10 sacks during one of the practices and footage showed him counting those sacks and making everyone aware of it.

While Williams didn’t play Saturday, the rest of the defense combined for five sacks, including one on starting quarterback Bryce Young, in the 27-0 preseason win over the Panthers.

Aaron Rodgers sacked ‘at least six times’ during Wednesday’s practice

Not a good day for the offensive line.

Another day, another practice where there are continued growing concerns about the offensive line for the Jets. This time, it was during their joint practice Wednesday with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which quarterback Aaron Rodgers was sacked “at least six times,” according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.

To add some context, Cimini tweeted during practice that Rodgers was sacked six times in a period of 10 dropbacks. Either way, that’s not a good look for the offense.

Now, a key to remember is that the Jets didn’t have their full line up front. Both starting guards, Laken Tomlinson and Alijah Vera-Tucker, did not practice Wednesday. Joe Tippmann was at left guard and Wes Schweitzer was at right guard.

Still, it wasn’t a great day at all up front and now the entire unit, including the depth, is becoming a major question mark yet again.

Rodgers downplayed the concerns while speaking to the media Wednesday.

“It’s August 16th, Rodgers said, via Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic. “We’ve got some time. Also, it’s coming up. I don’t get concerned heavily about things I don’t have a huge role in yet. Now, that might change. At some point I might say I need the five who are going to be in there to be in there with me for a solid week. But I don’t think we’re at that point yet because I don’t think there are five guys that have earned those spots … I’m going to have some patience with that.”

He may have some patience now, but the season starts in less than a month and it’s a tough stretch to begin the season. The Jets need as good of a start as they can get, which means the line has to be on their game. You have to wonder at what point that patience will begin to wear thin.

Hard Knocks: Robert Saleh puts offensive line on notice

The big boys needs to change

The offensive line for the New York Jets is still being looked at as a potential Achilles heel on the success of the 2023 New York Jets. Fans have been rightfully concerned about the status of the line with Duane Brown still on the physically unable to perform list and Billy Turner and Max Mitchell having underwhelmed before Mekhi Becton filled in for an injured Mitchell.

Head coach Robert Saleh is clearly aware of the issues up front and how that unit is the key this season. Saleh addressed the group that was seen during a scene on Tuesday’s episode of “Hard Knocks”.

“Offense, it was our first (expletive) opportunity to change the stink that’s been in this organization for a very long time on the offensive side of the ball. You can have a Hall of Fame quarterback. You can have two $10M-plus receivers. You can have a reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year. You can have all kinds of skill in the running back room. None of it (expletive) matters until the big boys up front change who the (expletive) we are.”

Between injuries and moving pieces around, the Jets have been trying to figure out the best combination up front, but no matter what the combination, Saleh is correct, nothing matters until the boys up front change who they are.

Breece Hall feels he’ll be ready for Week 1, doesn’t want to rush return

Breece Hall isn’t rushing things as he recovers from his knee injury.

The Jets activated running back Breece Hall off the physically unable to perform list Tuesday, allowing him to return to practice for the first time this training camp.

The Jets also agreed to sign running back Dalvin Cook to a one-year deal Monday, initially raising questions for some that Hall’s recovery. However, those concerns shouldn’t have been all that valid. The Jets had always wanted to take their time with Hall and being able to add a back like Cook made that easier for the Jets.

Now that Hall is back at practice, there’s a chance he can return for the season opener against the Buffalo Bills on September 11. But Hall understands this is a marathon and not a sprint.

Hall told the media Tuesday he feels he’ll be ready for Week 1 but that he won’t rush the process and will listen to coaches and trainers so that he can be 100 percent again.

Hall returned to practice in a light fashion Tuesday, knowing he has “bigger things to accomplish.” He said he wants to take things “day by day.”

With Cook now in the mix, both Hall and the Jets can take things day by day, which could eventually lead to the team having one of the best 1-2 punches at running back in the NFL.

 

How Dalvin Cook impacts the running back depth chart for the Jets

Dalvin Cook makes the running back room very intriguing.

Dalvin Cook is coming to New York. The league’s worst-kept secret finally came to fruition Monday when reports came out that the team had agreed to sign the former Vikings running back to a one-year deal.

So a question now is how is the depth chart affected going forward with Cook now in the mix? One way to answer that is by looking at Cook and Breece Hall as 1A and 1B in any particular order, especially now that Hall is off the physically unable to perform list and can practice again.

The Jets had wanted to ease Hall back into action coming off his ACL injury in October and the Cook interest and eventual signing helped reiterate that point. But now that Hall is able to practice, that is all the better news for the Jets to start using their new 1-2 punch.

So what about the rest of the running back room? You can argue Zonovan Knight has had a better summer and preseason thus far than Michael Carter. Similar to Hall and Cook, perhaps Carter and Knight could be considered 2A and 2B (or 3A and 3B depending on how you define it).

Both still seem in line to make the 53, but maybe it’s not as much of a guarantee as it was before the weekend.

Then there’s rookie Israel Abanikanda, who has shown flashes through the first two preseason games and is becoming a tough cut for the Jets. If they cut him, he’s going to get scooped up by another team. He’s likely still behind the top four, but as referenced before, maybe we can’t rule out the possibility that the team cuts either Carter or Knight — Carter would probably be more likely to get cut than Knight.

We also can’t forget about fullback Nick Bawden, who has been involved often in camp and has been penciled in on many projected rosters. The Jets like what they see out of the fullback and can use him in multiple ways. If anything, Bawden would be among the last players in or out when final cuts come around.

So we could be looking at something like this as the depth chart:

1A. Dalvin Cook

1B. Breece Hall

2A. Michael Carter

2B. Zonovan Knight

3. Israel Abanikanda

FB: Nick Bawden

A player, too, like Travis Dye would also make a good practice squad candidate for the Jets. He had some good work against the Panthers on Saturday.

On paper, the Jets look to have a crowded running back room, but that is meant in a good way. They could have some awfully tough decisions to make in the next few weeks.

Breece Hall to come off PUP list Tuesday

Breece Hall is back

More good news coming for the New York Jets at the running back position. A day after the team signed Dalvin Cook, the Jets are removing Breece Hall from the physically unable to perform list Tuesday, making him eligible to practice. This per a report form Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic.

Cook’s signing gave some a little concern to Hall but it also showed the Jets wanted to ease Hall back from his ACL injury. This news is even better because now he is eligible to practice.

The Jets now have quite a running back room with Cook, Hall, Michael Carter, Zonovan Knight and Israel Abanikanda. Having a healthy Hall ups the intensity of that group and there is still about a month to go before the season and two preseason games to get ready. This has already been a great week for the Jets.