The communication mistake that left Marvin Mims Jr. in the game late during a Week 8 blowout of the Cowboys continues to hurt the Broncos.
The team has ruled the All-Pro returner out for a second straight game, after Mims suffered a concussion on a kickoff return in the fourth quarter of a 44-24 win over Dallas on Oct. 26. Head coach Sean Payton clarified that special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi was trying to send in Tyler Badie to sub in late for Mims with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter, but “somehow the communication failed,” and Badie ended up entering the game for RJ Harvey instead.
Mims sustained the concussion after a 26-yard return on the play. The receiver has made progress through the concussion protocol this week, and was designated as a limited participant in Tuesday’s practice and in Wednesday’s walkthrough. But he didn’t clear the final stages in time for a Thursday night matchup and will now miss Week 10’s AFC West divisional showdown with the Raiders.
The receiver has seen his role fluctuate throughout his third season in Payton’s system, but he was an integral contributor in Denver’s Week 7 comeback win over the Giants. Mims has 22 catches for 234 yards and two total touchdowns from scrimmage in eight games.
Cornerback Pat Surtain II and tight end Nate Adkins are also set to miss their second straight games after not practicing this week. Reserve safety P.J. Locke, meanwhile, is questionable with a neck injury.
HOF semifinalists: Mike Shanahan and Dan Reeves are into the Pro Football Hall of Fame red zone once again.
The pair of former Broncos coaches is among nine semifinalists being considered for enshrinement in the 2026 Hall of Fame class.
A blue ribbon committee tasked with identifying a coaching finalist whittled its list from 12 to nine. The committee is set to meet Nov. 18 to determine one finalist. That finalist then goes forward to a vote of the full PFHOF committee and must receive 80% of the vote in order to be enshrined.
Mike Holmgren, another of the nine finalists, was last year’s finalist but came up short of the required support from the full committee.
Everybody else may be waiting at least another year, however. The perceived heavy favorite is six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick, who is eligible for the first time.
Shanahan and the late Reeves are no strangers to waiting when it comes to the Hall.
Shanahan has made it well into the process four straight years, though the process has changed during that time.
The winningest coach in Broncos history, Shanahan is a two-time Super Bowl champion and coached Denver from 1995-2008.
“He should be in,” current Broncos head coach and fellow Eastern Illinois alumn Sean Payton said last month. “He’s going to get in. He needs to get in sooner than later. Two championships, the coaching tree, the history as a coordinator and then as a head coach. I don’t even want to compare him against others that are in or candidates to be in, but his impact, beyond just two Super Bowls, his impact on the game offensively, having played against his teams, it’s time.”
Besides Belichick, Shanahan is the only coach eligible for the Hall who has won back-to-back Super Bowls and hasn’t been inducted.
Reeves, who died in 2022, was Denver’s coach from 1981-92 and won 110 games in Denver. He later coached the New York Giants and Atlanta and his 190 total regular-season wins are 10th in NFL history.
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