Amarius Mims enters first career start as Bengals' right tackle with an everlasting chip on his shoulder

So much from the past year has been made of Amarius Mims, and not for anything he does on the football field. Ironically, his lack of on-field time has been the center of his criticisms. It's why the Cincinnati Bengals were able to select him with the 18th overall pick in this year's NFL Draft.

From the moment he was drafted, Mims has looked the part of what a first-round pick should be; an available and gifted talent who's eager to constantly improve. He was one of the stars of the offseason program and training camp before a pectoral strain sidelined him for a month.

Now that he's days away from making his first career start for the Bengals, Mims hasn't strayed away from what's motivated him all the way back from the draft, through a promising offseason, to now taking over at right tackle .

"I know what I wanted for myself," Mims told reporters of how he hit the ground running . "I wanted to prove all the doubters wrong that passed up on me and everybody who had anything bad to say about me. But like I said, I'm just trying to get better every day, and I'm just trying to get this first W man. That's all."

Mims finds himself in this position due to chance. Starting right tackle Trent Brown went down Monday night with a season-ending injury . Mims filled in for over half of the Bengals' Week 3 loss to the Washington Commanders, a sign of what's to come for the rest of the season should he remain injury-free.

Mims also didn't start out on the bench for reasons he could control. His preseason injury was the biggest-and maybe the only-reason why he wasn't starting ahead of Brown in the first place. Mims had taken all the starting reps at right tackle from the first days of the offseason program all the way up to the first preseason game. He wasn't wasting those reps, either.

"I felt like I had some momentum coming in," Mims said. "I felt like I was, you know, playing some pretty good football during training camp, but like I said, it was a small bump in the road, but now we've got past that, so now it's just time to play football again."

Injuries have taken Mims out and placed him back in the starting lineup. Now he's got two hands on the wheel to stay in there. He had his fair share of promising and correctable moments in his debut off the bench against Washington. Despite the awareness of his doubters, he's a harsh critic of himself as well.

"I watched it, and, like I said, I'm very hard on myself, and I feel like I played, you know, not up to my standard," Mims said of his debut film. "I'm just self correcting, you know, trying to find out what I can do so I won't make those same mistakes again so I can play better this week."

Mims' mental approach to the game can be the greatest asset towards his growth . A player as young and talented as he already is has the foundation for a special career, but progress is not linear in the NFL.

Discipline matters far more than motivation, the latter also doesn't hurt. Mims said that chip on his shoulder isn't going anywhere.

"100%. I ain't gonna never lose it. Never lose it."

The Bengals need all 53 players thinking like Mims as they stare an 0-3 record in the face. His story is far from over, but contributing positively in his first career start to notch the year's first win is one helluva conclusion to chapter one.

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