Denzel Mims had to scale back his offseason training after a fishy encounter left him sick.
The second-year wideout missed most of OTAs after contracting food poisoning from what he said was bad salmon. That lost offseason time set Mims back and left many wondering about his fit on the team after he took early training camp reps with the reserve units.
Now a couple of weeks removed from being sick, Mims believes he’s heading in the right direction.
“I feel like I’m getting a lot more comfortable,” he said Wednesday before admitting that he still has “a lot of catching up to do.”
Mims’ status on New York’s depth chart remained a serious question mark throughout the first week or so of training camp. He took reps with the third-team offense at one point, which left some wondering if Mims was struggling to learn or fit into Gang Green’s new scheme. Robert Saleh explained Mims’ practice usage earlier this week and shut down any notion that the Jets could move on from the sophomore this year.
“Absolutely not,” Saleh said Wednesday when asked about giving up on Mims. “There isn’t a player in this organization that anyone’s ready to give up on.”
When Mims isn’t running routes during drills, he said he’s getting extra reps after practice and on the sideline with the quarterbacks between plays. Those aren’t mandated by the coaching staff, Mims said, but it’s what he believes he needs to do in order to catch up.
“I’m just trying to do everything I can to make sure I’m ready,” he added.
Mims lost a lot of weight during his time away from the team. Mims said he dropped from 217 pounds to 197 pounds. That 20-pound difference is huge for receivers like Mims who want to win 50-50 balls against defensive backs and push through tackles. Mims said he’s back up to 208 and comfortable with that number. He also said his confidence remains high despite his down summer.
“You can’t lose confidence in yourself in this game,” Mims said. “You lose confidence in yourself, you ain’t going to be a good player. You have to continue to have high confidence in yourself… My confidence is high.”
There is one thing, however, that the wideout no longer has faith in.
“Nah,” a laughing Mims said when asked if he would keep eating the food that sickened him. “I haven’t touched salmon ever since then.”
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