Denzel Mims makes his case for more playing time as Jets WR has strong game vs. Giants

Denzel Mims caught a short pass and turned it into a big gain, running by, through and over Giants as if he had something to prove.

"I always try to play angry," Mims said.

Mims seemed to be a little more than angry as he carried Giants with him to a first down that set up the Jets’ lone touchdown drive in Saturday night's 12-7 preseason victory.

Last year's second-round pick is low on the Jets’ receivers depth chart, which has been major storyline in his first camp.

Mims didn’t play with Zach Wilson or the starting offense at all on Saturday. He started the game on special teams. He ended up leading the Jets with three catches for 51 yards, playing with the second and third-team offense.

Six receivers lined up for the Jets before Mims, and that was with the Jets missing two wideouts. Perhaps Mims will inch up the depth chart after a game like this.

"I’m not really worried about that," Mims said. "I’m just trying to do everything I can to get better every single day. I got to continue to grind every single day and let my action speak for themselves."

Mims did just that on Saturday, when he bulldozed his way to a 20-yard gain on third-and-18. A few plays earlier, Mims lowered his shoulder into Giants cornerback Rodarius Williams on his way to another first down.

"It just comes from me," Mims said. "I just want to play angry. I ain’t going to just let anybody go out there and try to bully me and run all over me. I just make sure I try to play angry, get my work done."

Robert Saleh couldn’t help but notice Mims displaying the "All gas, no brake" mantra he’s been preaching since becoming the Jets coach.

When Mims came off the field after the 20-yard play, Saleh embraced him and told him to keep playing that way.

"It was awesome," Saleh said. "I thought Denzel, he had great intent. He’s had such a good week, week and a half of training camp, leading up to this game. It paid off for him. His size, his length, his speed, his power, all of it. It was showcased in a couple of catches he had."

Mims has been behind many of the other Jets’ receivers after a bad case of food poisoning knocked him out of OTAs. Mims dropped 20 pounds. He’s gained 11 back, but he’s still trying to claw his way into the receiver rotation.

On Saturday, Corey Davis, Keelan Cole, Jamison Crowder, Vyncint Smith, Jeff Smith and Josh Malone all worked in at receiver before Mims. Rookie standout Elijah Moore (quad) and Braxton Berrios (groin) did not play.

Mims is trying to be a team player and show the Jets coaches different ways he can help the team. He even went to them and asked if he could play on special teams.

"It’s something that I wanted to do," Mims said. "They had me on the depth chart. But I was at the bottom. So I was like, ‘Give me a try, let me show you what I can do.’ I impressed them so they put me with the 1s."

Mims has some ways to go before he passes some receivers, but he’s working on it.

"I think his mindset has been good," Saleh said. "He’s in a really good place especially with the sickness that he had in OTAs and all the different things he had to go through. He didn’t get those reps. Then he showed up in training camp. He’s got great mindset to him. He’s grinding. He’s trying to catch up on the playbook. [This] was a great step forward."

Field or box?

Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur called plays from the sideline rather than the coaches’ box at Saleh’s request. When Saleh was a defensive coordinator for the 49ers, he liked to be on the sideline.

Saleh wanted LaFleur to "try calling plays from different parts of the field" and "see which one he likes better."

Wilson liked having LaFleur on the field so they could huddle together after series. "If he prefers to be up there, then that’s great," Wilson said. "But it’s awesome to come off and you can just talk directly right there to him and kind of go through calls and stuff together."