Opportunities are said to await Denzel Mims, who was benched due to penalties on Sunday
Opportunity has knocked for Denzel Mims. Unfortunately, it’s getting ready to pack up and leave.
The best thing one can probably say about Mims’ sophomore campaign with the New York Jets is that it’s nearly over, though it will likely be followed by an offseason of questions about his metropolitan future.
At this time last year, Mims was seen as an essential part of the Jets’ future, a homegrown, deep-play threat not seen since Santana Moss arrived in 2001’s first round. He recovered from training camp injuries to earn 324 yards on 19 receptions over a six-game stretch from late October to early December.
Each of those games ended with the Jets on the wrong side of the affair but it was inspiring for the Jets’ franchise quarterback, be it Sam Darnold or a then-unknown incoming party, to have a young, talented target to work with in the future.
The dream has become a nightmare for Mims, a second-round pick in 2020’s virtual draft that served as a consolation prize when the Jets snubbed big-play men like Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb to take Mekhi Becton at No. 11 overall. Mims struggled to get reps with incoming franchise thrower Zach Wilson during training camp and was an outright healthy scratch over the first two games of the season.
Combined with a COVID-19 bout earlier this fall, Mims has been limited to eight games and has thus earned only eight receptions this season, totaling 133 yards. He still has yet to score his first professional touchdown.
“This year has been very difficult…but God doesn’t put you through things you can’t get through. That’s how I look at it,” Mims said of his 2021 season on Thursday, per notes from the Jets. “I’m going to keep moving forward and just keep doing everything I can to make sure I’m a good player and a good person.”
Further New York misfortune opened up an opportunity for Mims last week at home against the New Orleans Saints. With Wilson looking to capitalize on his best outing as a pro after a strong game against Philadelphia the week prior, Mims was on pace to take on an expanded role in the offensive game plan with top targets Corey Davis and Elijah Moore out with injuries.
Alas, that opportunity ended before it ever truly began in earnest. Mims partook in only a third of the Jets’ lifeless offensive snaps, a result of two first-half penalties taken on consecutive plays in the late stages of the second quarter. A trek that nearly resulted in a rare touchdown was diverted by 15 yards worth of Mims infractions (obtained through an illegal use of the hands and an illegal procedure).
The Jets were able to salvage the job with an Eddy Pineiro field goal from 46 yards out, but that did nothing to save Mims’ Sunday. He played sparingly in the second half of the Jets’ eventual 30-9 defeat, though head coach Robert Saleh said that his departure “wasn’t disciplinary”.
“I’ll speak for him and I’m sure he will echo it: He has to be better,” Saleh said after the game. “Just from a responsibility standpoint and with the penalties in the first half, it wasn’t his cleanest and something I’m sure he will get better at.”
In response to the penalties, which Mims chalked up to “playing hard”, offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur has made a point of challenging Mims in practice as the Jets prepare for another development opportunity on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins (1 p.m. ET, CBS).
“We’re going to push him and I want to see great results,” LaFleur said. “I know it’s cliche but what’s critical is what he goes out there and does today and gets himself prepared to have success on Sunday. That’s what a lot of young guys are learning, that the success doesn’t just show up on Sunday, it is what you do every single day of the week and how you, this game, I don’t want to say consumes you because there is a lot of other things in life that are so important. How you think about it and how you prepare yourself and just us showing him the examples of doing that.”
Mims will continue to have opportunities as this season trickles down to its long-awaited end, if only because the Jets are lacking options. Moore, the Jets’ new homegrown hope, is out for at least two more weeks while Davis won’t be back until Week 1 of 2022.
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The only things the Jets (3-10) have to play for are pride and a chance to generate forward momentum for an offense that has been woefully behind the times in the yardage-happy modern NFL.
The Baylor alum is remaining optimistic through an immediate lens and focusing only the rest of this season before dealing with what a tense offseason will have to offer. Though he has maintained a positive outlook (Mims mentioned that, throughout this dreary process, he still believes he’s “a very good player”), his sanguinity hasn’t reached the point of naivety.
“(These last four games are) very important. It’s an opportunity for myself to go out there show what I can do,” Mims said. “(I can) show the world, show myself, show the coaches (through) this opportunity. I just got to make sure I’m ready to play each and every day, each and every game.”
Mims continued, “I don’t think there are too many people like me. It will be shown. I just got to keep moving forward, to keep staying positive…My focus is right now. I can’t worry about the future. I have to do what I can right now. We’re in the present, not the future.”
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
