Clear the Shelves! Mekhi Becton Eager for Week 6 Return: 'I'm Like a Little Kid in the Candy Store'
Mekhi Becton can’t wait to return to the field, the New York Jets first round pick and starting left tackle is eager to play again after two weeks away with a shoulder injury.
“It's going to be real great. I’m like a little kid in the candy store,” Becton said on Friday. “I can't wait to get back out there. We’ll have fun.”
Becton is listed on the injury report as questionable but the Jets franchise left tackle is planning on being back in the starting lineup when the Jets host the Buffalo Bills Sunday at Metlife Stadium.
A reporter followed Becton’s statement of glee simply with, “Little kid?”
Becton laughed and called himself a big little kid. The prognosis appears positive for Becton to return to the field.
“Unless we have some kind of weird setback today,” Jets head coach Adam Gase said earlier Friday. “It looks good.”
Becton says his shoulder feels much better but isn’t 100 percent yet.
“It's really great,” Becton followed his earlier statement. “It's just something I got to keep treating. It's just another thing that I got to do for my body before I go out there and perform. It's just another added thing to the to-do list before I get ready.”
Jets quarterback Sam Darnold is also listed as questionable for this Sunday’s game. Both he and Becton went through limited practice this week.
Darnold told reporters earlier this week that he is hopeful his big left tackle will be protecting his blind side once again.
Gase was criticized for leaving Becton (and Darnold for that matter) in the Thursday night loss to the Denver Broncos on October 1. Becton defended the decision and said it didn’t make things worse.
“It wasn't a mistake,” Becton said. “I felt like I could play. When I saw Chuma (Edoga) go down, I felt like I can go in, but I just didn't have the strength that I wanted. So I came out. I don't think it was a mistake at all though.”
Edoga went down with a calf injury. He also went through practice as limited this week and is listed as questionable on the injury report.
Becton showed his youthful enthusiasm when talking about how hard it was to come out of that Denver game.
“Yeah it was [hard],” Becton said. “It sucked. I didn’t want to come out after I was already in. But I had to do what was best.”
The 6-foot-7, 364-pound former Louisville Cardinal remembers facing Buffalo in his NFL debut game during the season opener. Becton relishes the opportunity to face the Bills once again.
“It's a lot of things that I can do on my technique that I can fix that I've been watching on a previous film that we played against them that I know I need to fix for this game,” Becton said.
