Playing injured Becton not a good look for Gase

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The Jets’ ineptitude has reached shocking lows.

The latest absurd decision centers on the mind-boggling move to play an injured Mekhi Becton in Gang Green’s loss to the Broncos on Thursday night.

Four days after the rookie left tackle suffered a left shoulder injury that forced him to leave the game in Indianapolis, the Jets curiously made him active against Denver. Becton evidently was healthy enough to be used as an emergency option, but not healthy enough to start.

That, of course, makes little sense for myriad reasons.

Replacement starter Chuma Edoga got hurt four snaps into the game, prompting Adam Gase to bypass Conor McDermott and insert the injured Becton.

Becton, one of the few bright spots in an otherwise nightmarish season, lasted just 17 snaps before leaving the game for good.

“Becton tried to come in,” Gase said after the game. “He went as long as he could and then he couldn’t go any more. Just the shoulder. Didn’t have enough strength.”

Why on God’s Green Earth was Becton active in the first place? And why would any coach or general manager sign off on it?

Make no mistake: For all the warranted criticism heaped on Gase for his repeated failures, general manager Joe Douglas deserves an equal amount of criticism for this bone-headed decision.

It borders on football malpractice. Douglas should have thanked his lucky stars that Becton fell to him at No. 11 in the draft. Why put Becton in a position that he could do more harm to himself on a short week?

The smart course of action obviously would have been to rest Becton this week and give him extended time to prepared for the Cardinals in Week 5. Any competent organization would have taken that approach.

And if the excuse is that McDermott isn’t good enough to play, then, well, the general manager should have done a better job providing depth up front. Regardless, throwing Becton in there was reckless and embarrassing.

It’s unclear whether Becton will be ready to play against Arizona, but the point is obvious. He should have not suited up against the Broncos. Whether or not he said he could go is largely irrelevant. Every competitor thinks he can go.

It’s up to the “brain trust” to protect players from themselves.

Douglas and Gase should be held accountable for such a shameful decision.

The head coach rolled out nonsensical babble Friday about why he would potentially expose Becton to further injury by making him active even though the player wasn’t deemed fit to start.

“If he’s dressed, you know, and he felt like he was good,” Gase said. “I mean, it was hard to test anything last week because we weren’t in pads. We went through pre-game warmups. He didn’t feel like he was as strong as what he normally was, you know. That was the decision we made.”

Huh?

You would think that Douglas and Gase would have learned a valuable lesson from last season when their offensive line was ravaged by injuries. Or maybe that’s asking too much from these guys.

So, whose call was it to finally get

Becton out of the game?

“He p—,” Gase said before re-charting his course. “He went as long as he could. He didn’t have anything left. He didn’t have the strength he wanted… or that he needed.”

In other words, Becton ultimately had to be the adult in the room and say that he couldn’t play anymore.

Douglas’ revamped offensive line has been terrible through four weeks. The Jets can’t run the ball effectively. Sam Darnold’s best moments are a direct result of escaping pressure from a collapsing pocket. The so-called improved line gave up six sacks and 10 quarterback hits to an opponent without a perennial Pro Bowl defensive tackle and future Hall of Fame pass rusher.

The Jets are lucky to have Becton.

Evidently, they’re determined to screw that up, too.