ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — (AP) — To start, Marvin Mims Jr. was counted on mostly as a returner. Then, some receiver reps were thrown in. Now, he’s also spending time in the Denver Broncos' backfield.
Anything to get the ball into Mims' hands more, so he can show off those fast feet.
The speedy returner/receiver/runner has become a dynamic, multifaceted threat for the playoff-bound Broncos — a game-changer on special teams and as part of the Bo Nix-led offense.
"It puts a lot of stress on (the defense)," offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said of Mims' versatility as the Broncos (10-7) prepare for their AFC wild-card round game Sunday at Buffalo (13-4). "He's a talented player, and you have to get creative sometimes to get him the ball. It's been working out well."
The second-year player out of Oklahoma recently was named to the Pro Bowl squad as a return specialist for the second straight season. That's elite territory, with the only other player in Broncos history to be named to the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons being Von Miller, the talented pass rusher who's now tormenting quarterbacks for the Bills.
“Any time I can be recognized in the same stat as him, it’s amazing,” Mims said.
The Broncos view Mims as their version of Cordarrelle Patterson, the longtime do-everything player now with the Pittsburgh Steelers. A facsimile, too, of San Francisco 49ers wideout Deebo Samuel.
“It’s been great to see the growth that you hope you see in a player in his second year,” coach Sean Payton said of Mims. “We saw it right away as a returner a year ago, and we saw spurts. So it always just takes me back to, ‘Are we doing things? Can we find a role?’”
They've been patient not to heap too much on Mims too fast. Although, he's ready for any wrinkle in the playbook.
“Honestly, it’s just memorization for the most part,” Mims said. “It’s really just being a playmaker and making plays (in) a certain situation. It’s never just picture perfect. At the end of the day, you just have to take what’s there.”
As a receiver this season, Mims has 39 catches for 503 yards and six touchdowns. That includes two each in the last two games of the season, one of them a spectacular grab between two defenders on fourth down that sent Denver's game at Cincinnati into overtime two weeks ago.
In the backfield, he’s carried the ball 13 times for 42 yards.
But his real specialty remains punt returns, where he had a league-leading 15.7-yard average, marking the first time a Broncos player has led the NFL in that category since Rick Upchurch averaged 16.1 yards in 1982.
“I love being a punt returner. I feel like there are so many plays to be made at punt return,” said Mims, who's also returned seven kicks for a 27.7-yard average. “That’s probably my favorite thing that I get to do.”
He nearly broke a punt return this season against Indianapolis, cutting across the field and sprinting along the sideline for 61 yards in the fourth quarter of a game the Broncos trailed. It set up a go-ahead touchdown in a must-win game that propelled Denver toward its first playoff berth in nine seasons.
“He’s been such an asset for us,” special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica said. “The punt return element, he’s been exceptional again this year.”
Mims knows the uplifting power that a punt return has on the team because receiver Courtland Sutton reminds him all the time.
“Even if it’s 10 yards, it’s such a big momentum change for us,” Sutton said. “Just to see him running with the ball — he’s an exciting guy with the ball in his hands — and watching him go down the sidelines a couple times, it’s exciting because at any moment you know that he could take it to the crib.”
Mims' big receiving games this season include not only an eight-catch, two-touchdown performance at Cincinnati, but a 93-yard TD reception from Nix in a win over Cleveland.
“It was one of those awesome plays that you don’t get often,” Nix said. “But they’re pretty fun.”
A bigger stage now awaits at Buffalo.
“I like where we’re at right now,” Mims said. “Buffalo has had a great year and, deservingly so, has the second seed. Going up to play them is going to be a tough challenge — a really good football team — but I’m real confident in this group.”
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