The Denver Broncos left their season opener with more than a 31-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs to worry about. Marvin Mims Jr. came out of the game with hip discomfort, and for a team that’s trying to build on its 2025 surge, that was the kind of injury scare that can change the conversation fast.
There is, though, a positive update for Denver. Broncos beat reporter Zach Stevens said Mims is expected to be fine for Sunday’s game against the Jags. Stevens added that hip issues from the past surfaced during the game, but Mims pushed through and expects to be okay.
That lines up with what had already been hanging over his camp this year. Mims had dealt with a recurrence of a hip injury during Broncos training camp and previously described it as “some old stuff coming back up.”
The injury briefly forced him out early against Kansas City, but he later returned and handled a punt late in the contest. That was an encouraging sign for a player who has become one of Denver’s more important weapons.
The Broncos’ rise in 2025 gave Bo Nix plenty of attention, but Mims and Courtland Sutton were also major pieces in the team winning the AFC West and reaching the playoffs. Even with that production, Mims spent the offseason in trade chatter. Nothing came of it, and Denver’s biggest move to the receiver room was trading for Jaylen Waddle.
That left the Broncos with real depth at wideout. If the losses pile up and Mims stays on the field, the trade talk around the 24-year-old could easily pick back up as the deadline gets closer.
In Other News...
Justin Simmons Pulled The Broncos Into A Messy NFL Media Debate
Justin Simmons has dragged the Broncos into an awkward NFL media conversation by raising a pointed question about how stories get covered and why some situations draw far more attention than others. Simmons publicly wondered why the focus has landed on Broncos linebacker Jonathan Coopers domestic violence case while what he viewed as a different off-field controversy involving Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and former NFL reporter Dianna Russini has not drawn the same level of scrutiny.
Vrabel was caught up in an offseason mess after photos of him and Russini at an adults-only resort surfaced, an episode that led to Russinis resignation and an internal investigation by The Athletic. The debate now sits in the background of a Patriots team that already has football problems after dropping its Week 1 game to Seattle, with Drake Maye throwing three interceptions, but Simmons comments have made clear that the Broncos are not looking at this as just another league-wide media skirmish. [Read more 🡒]
ESPN Just Reignited An NFL Double Standard Debate Fans Know Well
During ESPNs Monday Night Football broadcast of the Broncos-Chiefs game, sideline reporter Laura Rutledge noted that Denver defender Jonathon Cooper was absent because he had been placed on the commissioners exempt list following domestic violence charges. The mention put a sensitive off-field issue squarely into the middle of a prime-time NFL telecast, and it immediately became more than a routine injury-or-status update for viewers following the Broncos.
Former Broncos safety Justin Simmons took aim at ESPN for bringing Coopers legal situation into the game coverage, and the reaction quickly spread into a wider conversation among former players and fans. The episode has revived a familiar debate about where broadcast reporters should draw the line when a players controversy becomes part of the nights storyline, especially when the game itself is supposed to be the focus. [Read more 🡒]
Patrick Surtain's Blunt Take Sums Up Denver's Early Reality Check
Denvers season opened with a jolt, and not the kind the Broncos were hoping for. An early interception briefly hinted at a fast start, but the offense stalled from there and the loss quickly turned into a reminder that preseason optimism only matters once the games count. Under Sean Payton, the Broncos expected a sharper launch than what showed up in Week 1, making the gap between projections and reality feel especially stark.
Patrick Surtain II didnt sugarcoat it afterward, saying the team needed a serving of humble pie. It was the kind of blunt assessment that tends to land harder because it comes from one of the rosters most respected voices, and it leaves Denver with an early test of response. The talent is there, the expectations remain high, and now the Broncos have to prove this was just a stumble rather than the first sign of a longer adjustment. [Read more 🡒]