Getty New York Jets wide receiver Denzel Mims getting ready for the next play of an NFL game.
The body blows keep coming for the New York Jets.
The latest came during head coach Robert Saleh’s press conference on Monday, veteran wide receiver Corey Davis is done for the year after undergoing core muscle surgery.
“I feel awful for Corey, he is one of the true pros in this league.”
“He’s one of the true pros in this league.” – Coach Saleh on @TheCDavis84
Insert the cheesy overused football cliche, the next-man-up mentality, yet this time it holds true. When one goes down, another must rise.
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The Door of Opportunity Is Now Wide Open
This has been arguably the toughest year of Denzel Mims’ life, certainly as it pertains to his livelihood as a professional football player.
The Jets changed coaches and thus offensive philosophies. That means Mims had to completely change his game and fit a brand new offense.
#Jets HC Robert Saleh was asked about the lack of usage for WR Denzel Mims & he seemingly indicated that Mims doesn’t know ‘all 3 spots & you have to know them at a high level.’ At end of game players were tired so he got a chance: #TakeFlight #NEvsNYJ
In the middle of the offseason training programs, the second-year wideout out of Baylor went through a bout with food poisoning. He lost considerable weight and missed value offseason reps in this offense.
If all that wasn’t enough, Mims went through an intense battle with COVID and he vividly described his body aches and consistent vomiting.
.@KimJonesSports of @nflnetwork asked #Jets WR Denzel Mims (@Zel5Zelly) the question we are all thinking, why the heck aren’t you playing & was there another incident that caused this lack of action? #TakeFlight #NYJvsATL #Falcons #DirtyBirds
Throughout the season the 24-year old has struggled to get on the field, hasn’t made a consistent impact, and has been phased out of the offense completely.
With Davis now on the shelf, this is a golden opportunity to change the dynamic with five games to go.
They play the same position at wide receiver and Davis is a more polished version of what Mims wants to be and excels in 50-50 ball situations, contested catches, and prides himself on physicality.
This is sink or swim, if Mims can’t make an impact by the end of the year it may be the end of the road. Rich Cimini of ESPN said the building is split on the future of their former second-round pick:
- The personnel side wants Mims here long-term.
- While it is unclear if the coaching staff wants him back.
If Mims plays out of his mind, he will put himself in a great position to be one of the three starting wideouts next year with Elijah Moore and Davis.
Although if he’s unable to prove himself, Mims will be traded off to the highest bidder this offseason.
A Confusing Conclusion
Now that Davis’ 2021 season is over for the green and white, we can now look back at what he did and didn’t accomplish.
In nine games he caught 34 receptions for 492 yards and four touchdowns. After a red hot start to the year in the season opener (five catches 97 yards and two touchdowns), Davis had a lot of issues.
He fumbled twice, had six drops, and failed to become the true No. 1 wide receiver he said he was.
This up-and-down rollercoaster season has left a lot of Jets fans mixed on how to interpret this first season for Davis.
The good news is he wasn’t a total free-agent bust and we have seen that far too often on 1 Jets Drive over the years.
Davis projected recovery time for this sort of surgery is between 8 and 10 weeks. That means the veteran wideout should be a full-go for the offseason training programs.
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