Sean Payton didn’t spend long worrying about Marvin Mims Jr. after Denver’s preseason win over Minnesota.
Mims left Friday night’s 34-6 victory after taking a hit on the Broncos’ opening drive and landing awkwardly on his right foot. For a few minutes, it looked like the kind of August scare that can flip a night on its head. By the time Payton spoke afterward, though, the tone had already shifted from concern to relief.
According to ESPN, Payton said the receiver and returner “is going to be fine” and described the injury as a bruise. “With Mims, he’s going to be fine.
It’s a bruise,” Payton said after the game, via Pro Football Talk. “We were really more just cautious with him.”
The play itself was messy, quick and over before anyone could really settle in. Jarrett Stidham threw down the sideline on third down.
Mims went up for it, but the ball never got there. He ended up colliding with Vikings safety Jacob Thomas out of bounds, went to the turf and immediately grabbed at his right foot, per ESPN.
He tried to shake it off. He got back up and started to jog, but the limp was obvious.
Trainers walked him toward the Broncos sideline at Empower Field at Mile High. He slammed his helmet down, sat for a bit, then went into the blue medical tent and later the locker room, according to the Denver Gazette and Denver Sports.
Denver listed him as questionable, and he never returned.
That reaction made it look worse than it turned out to be. Payton’s update said the staff saw enough to pull him, but not enough to panic.
Denver Post beat writer Parker Gabriel posted the coach’s wording shortly after the game, noting that Payton called Mims “fine,” said the team was “just cautious with him,” and referred to him as one of the Broncos’ “front-line guys.”
Mims’ night was also notable because it was his first live preseason action of the summer. He had not played in Denver’s first two exhibition games because of a lower-body issue in camp. The Denver Gazette described that earlier problem as a muscle strain, while the Denver Post referred to it as a groin injury.
Friday was supposed to be a brief tune-up. Payton had already held out most of the regulars, with Bo Nix among roughly 30 Broncos who did not dress, per ESPN’s game recap.
Courtland Sutton, Jaylen Waddle and Pat Bryant also stayed in street clothes, according to Denver Sports. Mims and Troy Franklin started with Stidham, and the plan was to get Mims a small workload before calling it a night.
Instead, he lasted six plays from scrimmage.
The bigger question now is what this means heading into Week 1. Payton didn’t sound like a coach bracing for a long absence, and a bruise is a far cry from the kind of injury that can wreck a season in late August. But even a bruise can complicate cutting and return work, which matters because Mims is more than just another receiver in Denver’s setup.
He is not locked into a huge role behind Sutton and Waddle, but the Broncos would feel his absence most on special teams. Mims made the Pro Bowl in 2023 and 2024, and he was first-team All-Pro as a returner in 2024. If he’s not available, Denver has to sort out punts and kickoffs without one of its most valuable pieces.
There is still time. The Broncos don’t open the regular season until Monday, Sept. 14, when they visit the Kansas City Chiefs at 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN and ABC.
After the game, DNVR’s Zac Stevens summed up the confirmed news from the night: Denver beat Minnesota 34-6, Mims has a bruised foot, and Payton said he’ll be fine.
What comes next is less about the postgame quotes and more about practice. If Mims is limited early next week, that would fit the cautious approach Denver took Friday. If he’s a full participant, Payton’s bruise diagnosis will have been exactly right.
In Other News...
Vikings May Be Ready To Cut Ties With Familiar Kwesi Picks
With roster cuts looming, the Vikings are facing a familiar kind of evaluation: sorting through players tied to former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and deciding which ones still fit the plan. The list is not long, but it is notable, with J.J. McCarthy and Walter Rouse among the names being weighed as Minnesota trims down and tries to sharpen the edges of the roster.
For the current regime, the question is less about where those players were drafted than whether they can justify a spot now. The team has not gotten much return from Adofo-Mensahs draft classes, and these final decisions are another sign that the Vikings are willing to move on if performance and roster math point in that direction. One more familiar name could be caught in the same squeeze before the deadline arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Vikings End Preseason With One Problem Fans Cant Ignore
The Vikings closed the preseason with a 34-6 loss to the Broncos, and the game only deepened the sense that the roster still has a sore spot to address before the real games begin. Denvers quarterbacks Sam Ehlinger and Jarrett Stidham moved the offense with too much ease, while Minnesota settled for field goals and never found the end zone for the second straight game.
Jacob Thomas injury added another uneasy note to a night that already felt more like a warning than a tuneup. With the preseason now in the books, the Vikings head toward Week 1 carrying a defense that was too easy to move and an offense that still has to find a sharper finish. [Read more 🡒]
Kirk Cousins Landed In The Same QB Problem He Left Minnesota For
Kirk Cousins appears to be in familiar territory again as he settles into his first offseason with the Raiders. He is viewed as the favorite to open the season as Las Vegas starting quarterback, but head coach Klint Kubiak has stopped short of officially naming him the guy, leaving the door open in a situation Cousins knows well from his time in Minnesota.
Cousins left the Vikings after it became clear the team wanted a path to a younger successor, then found a similar setup with the Falcons, where he also had to contend with a younger quarterback pushing for the job. Now on a two-year deal with the Raiders, he is once again being linked to a competition, this time with rookie Fernando Mendoza in the mix as the team sorts out its future under center. [Read more 🡒]