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FLORHAM PARK, NJ – New York Jets wide receiver Denzel Mims loved salmon, but not anymore. In the spring, he ate a plate of bad salmon that triggered food poisoning that caused him to lose 20 pounds.
“I haven’t touched salmon since then,” Mims said Wednesday.
Mims, a 2020 second-round pick, missed most of the offseason practice as he faced serious effects. He vomited for two weeks and needed antibiotics because of an intestinal infection. He didn’t say where he ate the salmon (he wasn’t asked), but a source said it was served in the Jets cafeteria. His weight dropped from 217 to 197, a drop so dramatic that he only returned to 208 after two months of healthy eating.
“It hurt me a lot,” said the former Baylor star.
It’s no coincidence that he started off slowly in training camp, sliding down the depth chart and fueling speculation about his future. He’s perked up the past few days – he made a fingertip capture for a long touchdown in a 7v7 stretch on Wednesday – but he doesn’t do any better than the fifth or sixth in the vastly improved receiving body of the Jets.
When asked if the organization would consider dropping out of Mims, coach Robert Saleh replied: “No, absolutely not.”
Mims’ rookie season was cut short by another kind of illness – a pair of hamstring injuries in training camp that caused him to miss the first half of the season. When he entered the field, he showed promise, finishing with 23 catches for 357 yards (no touchdowns) in nine games. He became only the sixth rookie wide receiver in NFL history to record at least 40 receiving yards in his first six games.
It was assumed he would return as a starter, but the Jets signed Corey Davis and Keelan Cole as free agents and drafted Elijah Moore in the second round. Suddenly, the competition was better. That, combined with the illness and the transition to an offense that requires a different road racing technique, resulted in fewer reps in the first 10 days of training camp.
“I feel like I’m catching up and I’m almost there,” Mims said.
When he recovered from the food poisoning, he flew to Florida at the end of June to train with quarterback Zach Wilson and other top players. During periods of inactivity in training camp, he makes sure to play pitch-and-catch with one of the quarterbacks.
“He works hard, and the harder he works, the more he puts in, the more opportunities he will have,” Saleh said. “He’s part of the rotation.
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