In a wide receiver corps that has seen a lot of disgruntled players of late, it’s Denzel Mims that was maybe the original malcontent for Gang Green – but after a turbulent second NFL season last year under a new coach in Robert Saleh that led to him requesting a trade this summer, Mims decided to take a new approach.
“Last year it kind of bothered me, but this year I said I was going to keep my head down and keep working,” Mims said after Sunday’s Jets win. “I’ll let my agent handle the business side of it, but all I can do is come in every day and work and hope I get my opportunity, and it came today. I’m grateful for it.”
Mims was active for the first time this season in the Week 7 win in Denver, and in last week’s loss to New England, he showed flashes of why the Jets drafted him in 2020 by hauling in a big 63-yard catch.
And in his third game of the season, Sunday’s win over Buffalo, Mims only had one catch, but it was a huge one: a 12-yard gain on a third-and-five inside the Bills’ red zone just before the two-minute warning, a grab that allowed the Jets three more plays (and forcing the Bills to take all their remaining time outs) before kicking the game-winning field goal with 1:43 to go.
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“I was thinking I was getting man coverage there, they were trying to play with Garrett (Wilson) a little bit and sent that other safety over,” quarterback Zach Wilson explained of the play. “When it comes to crunch time, who’s your big boy guy that can get separation and make a big play? Great job by him to show up in crunch time.”
“When we needed that conversion, Mims played big boy ball on the slant and Zach delivered a strike to allow us to take some more time off the clock,” added head coach Robert Saleh.
It was really only about 20 seconds in game time, but it burned all four stoppages the Bills had left, and made their final drive that much harder – and Mims is proud it was him that was called on for the moment.
“It means a lot. It lets me know that they trust me, and when it comes down to a crucial moment, they have faith in me,” Mims said.
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And no one was happier for Mims than Garrett Wilson, who had eight catches for 92 yards himself and is now Gang Green’s leading receiver just over halfway through the season.
“He’s a big body, and that’s what he does, man; he makes those tough plays,” Wilson said. “Love him and his attitude and how he goes about his business. I was glad to see him make that play and get what he deserve.”
“He’s special, man,” Mims shot back about Wilson. “I tell him every day that he’s a special human being and going to be great in this league.”
And what makes it all even sweeter is that the Jets go into their bye on a win, and a half-game back in the division with wins over Buffalo and Miami already.
“This is big. To go into the bye week on a win is big,” Wilson said, “because we can spend the week recovering our bodies and then come back and try to correct things next week.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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