The tension between the New York Jets and WR Denzel Mims is getting thicker and thicker. Mims wants out, the Jets seem to be doing their best to make him happy.
After Sunday’s game against the Giants, head coach Robert Saleh referred to Mims as “one of our six best receivers”. The Jets kept six wide receivers on their initial 53-man roster and Mims was indeed one of the six. But that doesn’t mean everything is peachy in Florham Park.
When asked if Mims feels like a hostage right now, Saleh said “I don’t view him as a hostage.”
To add to that, Saleh was asked about the situation and mentioned that Saleh has used a quote from Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin in the past that “we want volunteers, not hostages” and was asked if he disagrees with the notion that it feels like Mims is a hostage right now.
Saleh said the following:
Depends, that’s a really good question and a good observation there. As it pertains to Denzel, I have a lot of respect for Denzel and it’s different when they don’t want to be here because they hate it here, like fine, take a hike. I’m more than happy to open up the door. Denzel’s a tremendously respectful young man and I think he genuinely loves his teammates, he loves the Jets organization. Is he frustrated? Is he frustrated with all of us? Sure, I’m sure he is. He wants to play and for that, I don’t think he’s a hostage. It’s a lot easier to kick somebody out of the door if they want a trade if they’re jerks and that’s not Denzel, he’s a good young man and I love the way he approaches everything, even with this, the way he’s come about it, very professional, comes to meetings, practice, does all of it, so I guess I just don’t view him as a hostage.
We’ll see what happens. The Jets clearly want to keep him this season. They’ll do their best to give him the opportunity he’s been asking for. He did score a touchdown in the final preseason game, so maybe that will build some momentum.