Wide receiver Denzel Mims missed a lot of the Jets offseason work in 2021 because of an illness and the 2020 second-round pick wound up with a limited role on the offense as a result.
Mims was a healthy scratch in two of the first three weeks of the regular season and played in 11 games overall during his second season. He caught eight passes for 133 yards when he was active and played fewer snaps than five other wideouts.
That doesn’t seem like the prelude to big things in 2022, but it sounds like Mims is doing his best to make a case for a bigger role in the lineup this year. Head coach Robert Saleh said on Wednesday that Mims is “a lot further along today than he was a year ago” because he’s been able to be on the field throughout the offseason.
“Denzel’s doing better, second time around,” Saleh said, via SNY. “He’s in fantastic shape, looks really good. He’s working on the things that we’ve asked him to work on with regards to the catch point and all that stuff, contested balls, and, obviously, grasping the offense.”
First-round pick Garrett Wilson is expected to join Elijah Moore and Corey Davis on the top rung of the depth chart at receiver for the Jets, but Mims continuing to flash the ability that made him a high pick a couple of years ago should put him in the mix for playing time on an offense that needs to take a leap forward this year.