After Mims’ big game helps power Broncos, Payton admits ‘need’ to get him the ball more

GLENDALE, Ariz. — For a Broncos team seeking to launch its Week 7 efforts like a rocket, Marvin Mims Jr.’s 39-yard kickoff return to open what would become a 30-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals was precisely what was needed most.

After six weeks in which Mims had returned just one kickoff — having missed two of those contests due to injury — he was back in a role that he’s handled with aplomb throughout his four Broncos seasons, and the game-opening runback to the Denver 41-yard line demonstrated the speed, vision and quickness that has made him one of the league’s most dangerous returners since his rookie season.

“That first kickoff return it felt good just to like kind of break through that line and get some extra yards after that,” Mims said.

From that game-opening field position, Bo Nix quickly found Courtland Sutton for a 20-yard gain, putting the Broncos immediately in the outer limits of kicker Wil Lutz’s field-goal range.

The decision to use Mims as a single kickoff returner deep instead of as part of a duo paid immediate dividends.

“A lot of it had to do with the way they were kicking off,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “We kind of just went more to a single returner and certainly that first one that puts us at midfield was a big one for us.”

And in the third quarter, Mims got open for a 47-yard catch for Bo Nix, one of three plays from scrimmage that exceeded 40 yards — three times as many as the Broncos had in their first six games combined.

 

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For Mims personally, it was a breakthrough after he had just 29 yards on five receptions in the first four games he played this season.

“Yeah, look, we’re trying to get him touches,” Payton said. He’s one of our explosive playmakers.

“And I — quite honestly, we need to get him more touches on offense and we’ll do that.”

MIMS, BRONCOS CONTINUE ADAPTING TO THE NEW DYNAMIC KICKOFF

Mims had a career-high 25 kickoff-return opportunities in 2025 because of the “dynamic kickoff” regulations, installed in 2025 and then tweaked for this season. His average of 26.3 yards last year was in line with the 26.5-yard pace of his rookie season and the 27.7-yard figure of his second campaign — although he had more returns in 2025 than the previous two seasons combined.

But the adjustment continues.

“It’s just different — especially with the line versus the guys on different levels,” Mims said. “Something I’m still looking at, but at the end of the day, those guys up there, they block their tails off. They trust me, so, I gotta trust them, too.”

For Mims, the kickoff alterations force a change in not only how the lanes develop, but the expectations for returns.

“Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, it’s not going to always be like a huge kickoff return as maybe it was when it first happened,” Mims said. “And then also, the way they made it seem like, ‘Oh, we’re going to get more kickoff return touchdowns,’ all that.

“… It’s not hard kickoff-return wise, but at the end of the day, kickoff returner, you just gotta sometimes put your head down and try to get to the 30, 35, to the 40.

“So, that’s been a huge emphasis, especially for me mentally, just get your head down, get what you can get.”

And what he got Sunday at the start was something big for the Broncos in the context of their most-resounding win of the season.
Now the question is this: Will it also augur more opportunities — and bigger things — for Mims in the games to come?

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