AFC Notes: Mekhi Becton, Mac Jones, Bills, Jets, Patriots

Bills

• According to Bills HC Sean McDermott, OT Tommy Doyle is out for the season with a knee injury. Doyle was also out for the 2022 season with an injury to the opposite knee. (Joe Buscaglia)

Jets

For the beginning of training camp, Jets OT Mekhi Becton‘s reps had been carefully managed and he had been limited to working on just the left side, which a lot of onlookers found curious given New York’s instability at right tackle. Becton’s agent, Alan Herman, says all of that was part of the detailed medical rehab plan for Becton as he works his knee back into shape following an absence of nearly two years. Becton was limited in how much he could run and it was strongly advised to avoid working at right tackle until his knee was stronger to avoid putting undue stress on it. 

“There’s a medical protocol that has to be followed in terms of how many snaps he gets as we get closer to the start of the season,” Herman said via ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “The medical protocol was put into place to make sure he’s going to be ready to play a whole game at the start of the season.”

Becton has now reached the point where he can play right tackle, and the Jets are starting to work him in. If he’s ready to go and can seize the starting job, it would be a big lift to what at this point is the team’s biggest weakness. 

“We’re not necessarily telling him the job is his,” Jets OL coach Keith Carter said, “but we’re definitely encouraging him, like, ‘Hey, man, let’s go. When you’re ready to put the pedal to the metal, go compete.'”

Patriots QB Mac Jones responded to questions about being chewed out by HC Bill Belichick for not getting the ball into the endzone during a two-minute drill. 

“So, we scored on the two-minute drive with a field goal, and then we just wanted to try a situation again,” Jones said. “We just kind of redid the situation, I guess. That was fun, I guess, but it was my fault. I think it was just a miscommunication between all of us. But it was fine. It was a good learning experience. It’s too hard to explain in football terms to the media and stuff, but it was kind of a nuance, because we kind of repeated a situation we just did, you know what I’m saying? So that’s what we need, though, so both teams can get the situation, try and practice it and then do it again to get it right.”