This was the summer Marvin Mims Jr. turned gritty.
At least, Margin Hooks tried to coax it out of him, back this offseason. He knew full well that Mims carried unique talent, a receiver Hooks has been training for years. And he knew that Mims carried an equally unique demeanor, a receiver with explosive traits and without an explosive personality. So he prodded the third-year Bronco in training, trying to add a little flavor, as Hooks put it.
And as they worked on fields down back in the South, Hooks sensed a switch flip in his pupil. More assertive in attacking defensive backs. An extra spark when cutting out of his breaks. And longtime WR trainer Hooks issued a prediction, in a June conversation with The Denver Post: Mims would be a 1,000-yard receiver in 2025.
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“He’s feeling like this is his time,” Hooks told The Post, then.
But one’s time, in this league, is never a singular decision. Months later, flickers of a Mims breakout have danced and sputtered. After a six-catch, 85-yard day against the Giants in Week 7, he suffered a concussion in Week 8 on a late return he wasn’t even supposed to be in on. Mims returned in Week 11 on a snap count to an offense that was evolving without him, and has received all of five combined touches in the last two weeks.
Through another unpredictable season in Denver for factors beyond his control, though, Mims has been able to center on the one aspect of his Broncos identity that he can control: the return game. It is his greatest advantage, as quarterback Bo Nix said Sunday. Mims has been a two-time All-Pro through his first two years in the league, through years of his offensive utilization coming and going.
And in the second quarter Sunday, he broke loose for a new height he’d never touched: a punt-return touchdown.
“That’s his release,” Hooks told The Post on Sunday night, after the Broncos’ 24-14 win over the Raiders.
“That’s his — ‘I’m not getting the ball, I’m making it happen this way,'” Hooks continued, a few words later. “And everyone’s not capable of doing that. But he is.”
It happened in the most pivotal of situations, because these Broncos sat in the danger zone, deadlocked at 7-7 with a 2-10 Raiders team on a completely opposite season trajectory. It happened on pure talent, and a veteran’s instinct for a 23-year-old burner. Because, as Mims revealed postgame: he didn’t actually have Broncos special-teams coordinator Darren Rizzi’s playcall.
“It’s one of those high-skiers, and you gotta look up,” Mims said postgame, recalling the punt from the Raiders’ AJ Cole. “So, you don’t know what’s going on in front of you. So it’s kind of like a trust thing. And ended up taking a chance.”
Mims caught the punt at the Raiders’ 48-yard-line, danced, tried to turn upfield, and stopped. Las Vegas’s Decamerion Richardson had him dead to rights.
“For a second there, I thought for sure I was going down,” Mims recalled.
Except Richardson went high, and Mims ducked. Two yards later, Richardson was sprawled on the turf and Mims had a full head of 4.3-level steam down the left sideline. He pointed ahead for safety JL Skinner, who dashed ahead and leveled a cruel shoulder to block off a flailing dive from Cole.
And Mims pulled into the end zone, with Sunday’s game completely flipped, and fired off a Mile High Salute.
“It was amazing, because from my angle, which was pretty like, right there – just seeing him come out of that pile, that was a big play,” head coach Sean Payton said postgame.
It was a feather in Mims’ cap for a third straight All-Pro selection as a returner. And it was everything he could’ve done for the Broncos Sunday, as quarterback Nix pointed.
Mims spent minimal time on the offensive side of the field again, for the following two quarters. He caught just one pass for five yards. He now ranks fifth on the Broncos in catches (25) — and has fallen squarely behind the sixth-place Pat Bryant in playing time — through 13 games.
But Mims, since his days at Oklahoma immediately stepping into the shoes of Sooner greats like CeeDee Lamb, has never been wired to demand the ball. He “never complains” about his offensive production, as Nix said Sunday. And Mims shrugged off a strange season when asked postgame.
“If you told me I would’ve been a two-time All-Pro, two-time Pro Bowler when I entered the league — I would’ve said you’re insane,” Mims said. “So to be where I am right now, I mean, (God’s) plan’s always better than mine. And it’s been cool.
“Just kinda – my big thing is, ‘You know what? Things might not go the way I want ‘em to go,'” Mims continued. “And that’s, pssh, 90% of players in the league.’ At the end of the day, when my number’s called, when my opportunity comes, I gotta be ready for it.”
Mims, he smiled, will never hand-hold his quarterback. Never put more on Nix’s plate and ask for the ball, when there’s enough on the second-year QB’s mind. And he certainly won’t make a fuss, with the Broncos on a stampede.
Touches are touches, however they come.
“You look at, we’re on a 10-game win streak, now?” Mims said. “And it’s like, ‘Dude, I’m not gonna mess this up.’ But I mean, at the end of the day, I mean, we’re winning. We’re winning games. I get my opportunities, I try to make the most of ‘em, and that’s what everybody on the team does.
“And everybody has your role, and you just gotta make the most of it,” he continued. “And I feel like I’m doing that, and I’m just going to keep on trying to do it.”
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