NY Jets: Denzel Mims will miss Seahawks game due to family emergency

NY Jets’ wide receiver Denzel Mims will officially miss this week’s game.

The NY Jets are officially set to be without one of their top offensive playmakers this week as rookie wide receiver Denzel Mims won’t be suiting up for the team’s Week 14 matchup with the Seattle Seahawks.

Mims missed practice on Wednesday with what was described as a personal issue. In reality, as first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the rookie wideout had traveled back home to Texas to deal with a family emergency.

Given the complications posed by the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols, this left many to believe that he would not be able to play this week. And on Thursday, that notion was confirmed by head coach Adam Gase.

Mims will miss this week marking the first game he’s missed since returning from injury in Week 7. The 23-year-old was sidelined for all of training camp and the first six weeks of the season while dealing with a nagging hamstring injury.

But since his return, he’s more than made up for lost time.

Denzel Mims has been impressive for the NY Jets this season

Mims has hauled in 19 catches for 324 yards in six games and is one of just six receivers in NFL history to record 40 or more receiving yards in their first six career games.

On a team full of misery — particularly on the offensive side of the ball — Mims has been one of the few causes of optimism.

He trails just fellow rookie Mekhi Becton as Pro Football Focus‘ highest-graded offensive player on the team and he’s also PFF’s third-highest graded rookie wide receiver. The numbers don’t jump out at you, but Mims has been fantastic so far in his brief career.

The Jets will have to adapt without him this week — bad news for an already-struggling passing game. It will likely be former college quarterback Jeff Smith who receives the start with the likes of Vyncint Smith and Braxton Berrios also seeing more targets.

Berrios, in particular, could see more playing time with Jamison Crowder‘s status for Sunday currently up in the air.

The Jets might be thin at wide receiver once again this week. And the absence of Mims will certainly have a significant impact.