Denzel Mims isn’t expected to miss much time after suffering a hamstring injury early in training camp. But the second-round rookie’s injury – and the loss of valuable offseason practice reps – highlights just how woefully thin the Jets are at wide receiver.
Mims joined an already-shallow receiving group that featured Jamison Crowder and Breshad Perriman as the presumed starters. After those three, though, the Jets don’t really have any experienced or reliable receivers for Sam Darnold to throw to. If any of those three suffer a serious injury that forces them to miss time, the Jets will presumably look to Braxton Berrios or Vyncint Smith to pick up the slack. Yikes.
Berrios and Smith played admirably in limited roles late in 2019, but neither have the skillset to take over as a starting receiver. The Jets signed former first-round castoff Josh Doctson as an experienced reclamation project this offseason, but he opted out of the 2020 season because of concerns with the coronavirus pandemic.
Further down the depth chart, the group looks even less formidable. There are journeymen Josh Malone, Jeff Smith and Jehu Chesson, and then undrafted free agents George Campbell and Lawrence Cager. Campbell and Cager have essentially a blank slate but come with a lot of injury concerns, while the three journeymen haven’t stayed in one place long for a reason.
The only saving grace is the return of tight end Chris Herndon and running back Le’Veon Bell. They have the experience and skillsets to be competent pass-catchers on offense, but it means the offense will focus less on passing plays to the outside and more on targets to the middle of the field. Keep in mind that Crowder, the slot man, is the most dependable of the starting receivers. That will lead to a much more predictable offense that defense can easily attack.
The fortunate right now is that Mims’ injury doesn’t appear series. The receiver “took a weird step and really stretched himself out” on a low throw, according to Adam Gase.
Gase appeared unworried about when Mims will return, though he wasn’t definitive with a timeline.
“We’re just going to have to see how long it takes,” Gase said of Mims. “Obviously everybody reacts a little different when they’re coming back from these hamstring injuries and soft-tissue injuries.
“Every rep we have right now is extremely valuable. We’ll see the big picture of things. He’s going to spend a lot of time with [wide receivers coach] Shawn Jefferson, [assistant wide receivers coach] Hines Ward, myself, [offensive coordinator] Dowell Loggains… doing as many walk-throughs as he can.”
It will be hard to replace Mims if he’s out for longer than expected. The Jets would likely lean on their internal group of backups considering the lack of receivers in free agency and uncertainty of signing players during the pandemic.
“It’s not like you can fly somebody in and have them on the field the next day,” Gase said. “There’s a pretty lengthy process you have to go through. You’re going to be waiting a minute.”
Paul Richardson and Taylor Gabriel are the best receivers in free agency, and bringing back Demaryius Thomas is also an option in a pinch.
Regardless of what happens, the Jets put a lot of their offensive eggs in the Mims-Crowder-Perriman basket. If one or more miss significant time – whether now or later in the season – it could spell trouble for the Jets, again.