LOVELAND — Angry? Silly Bills. You didn’t make Marvin Mims Jr. angry.
You made him hungry.
“We go to Buffalo. We go up 7-0, we’re feeling good. And then at the end of the game, we get our butts whooped and the season’s over,” Mims, the Broncos’ third-year wide receiver, told me Saturday afternoon after hosting the first of two weekend youth football camps along the Front Range at Ray Patterson Field.
“I don’t want to say it’s a terrible feeling. But you’re kind of sitting there (and) part of me is like, because I’m young, and I’m going to be here next year, it’s like, ‘Dang, we’ve really got something.’ And then part of the other part of me is like, ‘Dang, we really missed out on an opportunity.’
“But just knowing what you’ve got, the type of program you have, the type of culture you have, you just kind of have that feeling like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to be back. And we’re going to do some special things here.'”
Mims is coming off two Pro Bowls, 23 going on 35, with a head so level you could set a shelf with it. Bring up Bo Nix, though, and the kid comes out.
He talks about his quarterback the way baseball scouts talk about a young Ken Griffey Jr. or Shohei Ohtani. A smile opens up across his face like an umbrella in Paris. A gleam dances from eye to eye.
“It’s funny, because towards that (middle) of (2024), Bo was obviously getting more comfortable in the offense,” Mims continued. “He’s like, ‘Hey, if we get this, if we get that, if you get this, let’s go eyes early, eyes late. Be ready.’ And it showed. It was out there. I’m talking about, I turn around, the ball’s probably like …”
With that, Mims snapped his hands up to eye level, simulating a quick catching grasp.
” … boom, let’s go. And it worked. Now it’s more of, I don’t want to say him progressing … he’s seeing it differently now. And us kind of going from those routes we did last year to making it more broad to other routes, too. And just understanding what he’s seeing and what I’m seeing, what I’m feeling, what he wants.
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That goes double for Broncos Country. Nix to Courtland Sutton was fun. Nix to Mims was electric. Denver went 5-2 last fall whenever No. 19 touched the ball five times or more in a game. The Broncos went 3-1 in the four games in which Mims scored.
“Sean (Payton) is going to have a competitive team regardless,” said Mims, who racked up 503 yards receiving, 42 yards rushing, 194 yards on kick returns and another 408 on punt returns.
“He said it last year a bunch of times: ‘Young and hungry is dangerous.’ That’s something we were last year, and we felt it. We could feel the energy. So we’re excited to go. I’m excited to go. I’m excited to see what this team can do, even in the preseason, because, I mean, it’s a culture thing … I’m really excited.”
With the Bills’ tire tracks still burning his backside, all Mims could think about this past January was getting back to work. Here’s what was different at Dove Valley: Almost everybody else in that locker room wanted to get right back at it, too.
“Ever since we played Buffalo, a lot of guys stayed around this offseason, and we’ve been in and out of the facility,” Mims said. “A lot of guys working out together, traveling together, going on vacations together. I mean, we’re closest we’ve ever been since I’ve been here. And we’re ready to go.”
So were the kids in Loveland, now that you mention it. After catching pass after pass from the Broncos star in the stifling June heat, campers sat along either hashmark at the end of the session to watch some of their peers run more routes.
The peanut gallery was already in training camp form.
“IN-COM-PLETE!” the grade-schoolers chanted whenever a ball got dropped.
“These kids,” a parent quipped, “are for real.”
Mims proved to be the real deal, too, signing autographs, posing for pictures and fielding questions from the young’uns.
“Who’s the toughest cornerback you’ve ever faced?” one asked.
“Pat Surtain Jr.,” Mims replied.
What do you know? Turns out Payton’s joker was here the whole time.
“You see how our team was kind of built up last year and built up this year,” Mims said of his coach. “We have a lot of gritty players — like, why don’t you (go) out there and play like you want it? Not guys that are doing all this extra stuff in the offseason.
“I mean, think about it. You don’t see any guys kind of getting reported on, any type of stuff like that. Guys are doing the right thing. And when it’s time to go, for the most part, we had all our guys in OTAs, workouts, all that stuff. And that’s the stuff (Payton) likes to see.”
You know what else he likes? Whenever a talking head tells Mims the Broncos have “made it,” No. 19’s mind goes to a long, cold day in Orchard Park. All those feelings come rushing back.
“It starts at the helm. It really starts with Bo,” Mims said. “Bo is the most confident (guy) … we can have a good time too, but he’s so serious. Like when it’s time to do football, it’s time to do football. And everybody feels that. Everybody learns off of him. And he’s always the one speaking. It’s not like he’s just there, quiet, with a serious look on his face. He’s up there speaking. So we see that off of him.”
As Saturday’s camp broke up, a fan passed Mims by and gently tapped the receiver on the shoulder.
“Love watching you and Bo,” he said.
Mims smiled. Last fall was the appetizer. The young are still here. Still dangerous. Still hungry.
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