Payton Breaks Silence on Disappearance of Explosive Broncos Rookie

There was plenty of blame to go around for the Denver Broncos after the team's shocking collapse in Sunday's 35-33 loss to the Washington Commanders.

One Bronco who can't be blamed for Week 2's outcome was rookie wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. The 21-year-old speedster's spectacular coming-out party, unfortunately, got derailed after he bizarrely disappeared in the fractured game plan in the second half.

After 17 minutes against the Commanders, Mims had two catches on two targets for 113 yards and a touchdown. He finished the game with exactly those same numbers.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton is a man with many issues to address, especially on the defensive side of the ball. On offense, Payton's failure to keep dialing up Mims was particularly puzzling, especially after a brace of thrilling early downfield receptions.

Post-game, Payton doubled down on a number of scheme-based reasons for why Mims didn't feature more as the game wore on.

"Yes, some of it's coverage driven, and some of it is just based on what we're in," Payton told reporters. "We ended up in a couple different personnel groupings. Part of that is coincidence, I would say. We had a number of guys we were trying to get the ball to, and we'll keep doing that."

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Sharing the ball around is one thing, but failing to stick with a hot hand goes against every grain of logic. When the Broncos were leading 21-3 in the second quarter, they had the Commanders very nearly down and out, so it wasn't really the time or place to test the depth chart.

Post-game, Wilson was on board with Payton's strategy of trying to rotate as many pass-catchers into the lineup as possible. Payton drew positives from Mims' sudden emergence rather than conducting a mock post-mortem on why the Broncos went away from him.

"I think the biggest thing is that we have so many receivers and so many guys that can really make plays," Wilson said. "I think we are moving guys in and out. He [Mims] had another great punt return. Anytime he can touch the football, it's a good thing for us. I think that was a positive of the game, especially seeing a rookie make those type of plays."

Mims should be more featured after his break-out game, and clearly, Wilson was enjoying working on his burgeoning connection with the explosive rookie.

"Those two plays were spectacular plays by him," Wilson said. "First of all, in the first half, he runs the deep post for a touchdown. That was a beautiful route [with] great protection. We checked to that play [and] got to it. Great protection by the guys. Mims gets wide open there, and we hit a huge touchdown. That was a big play. A big, explosive play for us."

The Broncos are pretty low on game-changing talent and are yet to unearth a cohesive identity, which means confidence is low, so throwing talented rookies like Mims into the mix needs to be done on a 60-minute basis rather than as a supporting act.

Just like the Commanders, other teams will maneuver to neutralize Mims, but the Broncos simply need to force their opponents' hand. Never before in their history have the Broncos started off 0-2 and made the playoffs, but right now, the postseason seems like a pipe dream anyway.

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