Ty Mims wears No. 0 and has 96 career catches. UAB needs both.

Ty Mims caught three passes in Saturday's scrimmage at Protective Stadium. Temperatures sat in the 90s. Several receivers around him were unavailable. Asked about the conditions afterward, he did not dwell.

"It's hot," Mims said. "But it's football and you got to play in every condition that's there. It ain't no complaining. For real."

Mims is the kind of player who answers the question before you finish asking it. What can you bring to this offense? "I'm just here to be the best version of myself and be the best player for the team." What about the receivers who aren't available right now? "That don't mean we just sitting, talking, complaining, bro. We just got to push through it." What's your role? "I don't really know my role yet, but I know I can bring something to the table and I'm ready for them to use me however they want."

He is 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, a redshirt senior from Bay Minette who played quarterback at Baldwin County High School as a senior — threw for 1,428 yards with 16 touchdowns, rushed for 1,402 with 16 more, took a program to the Class 6A playoffs for the first time in 14 years and a playoff victory for the first time in 18. He signed with Southern Miss as a receiver and caught 96 passes for 1,194 yards across three productive seasons, leading the team in receptions in 2023 and 2024. He transferred to Texas State last year, did not play, re-entered the portal and signed with UAB.

He wears No. 0. The number belonged to Iverson Hooks, who transferred to Oregon after catching 72 passes for 927 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2025 — the most productive receiving season in recent UAB history. Brandon Hawkins Jr. graduated after contributing 41 catches, 540 yards and 5 touchdowns. The two departures took 113 catches, 1,467 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns with them.

Mims has more proven FBS receiving production than anyone else on the roster. The Birmingham Banner's Steve Irvine compared him to Hooks in the spring — similar build, same number, the same kind of explosive catch-and-carry ability. Alex Mortensen named him first when he talked about the receiver room at the American Kickoff in July.

"Ty Mims has done a nice job," Mortensen said. "We have a lot of receivers right now that are competing and we're really excited about all of them."

What the scrimmage showed

Saturday's scrimmage was the first unscripted, full-contact evaluation of fall camp, and for the receivers it was a reality check. Todd Grantham's defense dominated — J'Quan Mason had four sacks, Blanche Gold added two, the secondary produced an interception and a safety — and the catches the receivers did earn came hard.

CD Gill led the group with four receptions. Mims had three. Jailen Holmes caught two. Kaleb Brown, Bradley Wainwright, Scott Isacks, Brogan McNab, Gabriel Cline and Antonio Ferguson each added one.

The absences were noticeable. Several receivers were out. Brown, who has dealt with back-to-back spring injuries, caught one pass. Jaylen Elder, a speed threat who played six games as a true freshman last year and got hurt again this spring, did not appear in the scrimmage at all.

Mortensen addressed the receiver room directly after the scrimmage and did not sugarcoat it.

"We have some guys that are out right now, as you all know," Mortensen said. "So it is a good opportunity for some others to compete, and I think there are a lot of guys that are out there that are trying. They're pushing themselves through where they've gotta take a lot of reps. So we appreciate that and respect it and understand the challenge that it creates. But we also would like to see some of them step up and make more tough plays and make more tough catches. That's really kind of the room in general. That's what we need to see there.

"But there are some guys out there battling."

Mims said the group was not using the absences as an excuse.

"We know we got some guys down, but that don't mean we just sitting, talking, complaining, bro," Mims said. "We just got to push through it. We know the guys want to be out here, so we just using them as a way to just push through because they know if we was hurt, they'll do the same for us."

He pointed to the competition between Mortensen's offense and Grantham's defense as something that has raised the standard for both sides.

"It's good seeing two coordinators go against each other," Mims said. "Putting each other in the best situation, putting the players in the best situations, going toe to toe, best for best."

The pieces around him

Mortensen rattled off the names at the American Kickoff: Kaleb Brown, CJ Smith, KJ Daniels, AJ Johnson, Lamar White. "It's a room that we think has some depth and it's going to be very competitive in camp," he said. "I think they can all help us and we'll find ways to play all of them."

The depth is real. Brown is a former top-100 recruit who signed with Ohio State and played at Iowa before coming to UAB, where he caught 17 passes for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns — including a 79-yard game against No. 15 Tennessee. His talent is not in question. His availability is. Two springs, two injuries. Mortensen said at the start of camp that Brown is expected back during the season and praised his growth beyond his on-field production.

"In the time Kaleb has been here, he's really developed, even as a person, the whole person," Mortensen said. "He's become a leader. I think he's become a voice people respect."

Smith, at 6-3 and 205 pounds, is one of the biggest receivers on the roster and the closest thing to a downfield threat UAB has. Johnson, also 6-3 and 205, gives the offense a second big-bodied option from East Tennessee State. White, the son of former NFL receiver Roddy White, made a push during the spring.

Ryder Burton spent the spring getting to know the newcomers and said each one brings a different dimension.

"CJ is that overall red zone threat and deep ball threat everybody dreams of especially in the quarterback room," Burton said on the Break The Huddle podcast. "KJ's got elite explosiveness. Just really really talented with the ball in his hands. And then EJ is very very smooth. He's always in the right place at the right time. We know what we're going to get out of him every single day."

Burton said the challenge now is building timing with a group he is still learning.

"Each one of these guys has their own little things that you have to figure out," Burton said after the scrimmage. "It's just continuing to try to figure out and push the timing of when the throw can be there versus when I have to peel some off."

He also called out freshman Brogan McNab, who arrived as a quarterback and moved to receiver when the room was short on numbers in the spring.

"Brogan's been killing it, man," Burton said. "We got some thin numbers at receiver in the spring, so Brogan kind of made the transition and he's really grown into that role. I've been really impressed with just his ability to learn at such a rapid pace."

Mims agreed.

"He bring a lot of toughness. He's strong, he young," Mims said. "He really don't get fatigued. I think he a good one for sure."

Burton, who relied on Hooks for 11 catches and 172 yards in UAB's upset of No. 22 Memphis last October, acknowledged the weight of what the room is trying to replace.

"It's a big chunk of production that we have to replace," Burton said on the Inferno podcast. "And I mean, KJ, Tai, Mims, EJ and CJ, they've really come to work. ... I've been really impressed with them."

Two weeks left

UAB opens at Illinois on Sept. 3. The receiver room has two weeks of camp to answer the question Mortensen posed Saturday — can this group make the tough plays and the tough catches?

The coaching staff has the credentials to develop whatever talent is available. Kevin Garver coached receivers for Tampa Bay for four years, including the Super Bowl LV season, and spent six years at Arizona working with Larry Fitzgerald before coming to UAB. If this room can be coached up, it has the right man doing it.

Mims is not making predictions about what the room will look like by Week 1. He is making himself available.

"I don't really know my role yet, but I know I can bring something to the table," Mims said. "I'm ready for them to use me however they want."