The Indianapolis Colts took a gamble and made a move for cornerback Sauce Gardner at the 2025 trade deadline in hopes of making an iffy and banged-up defense great. Gardner has so far been solid, but he was also hurt in Week 13. In that same week, wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, part of the trade deal for Gardner, was incredible.
That, of course, was with the New York Jets, Mitchell's new team, and Gardner's former team. In Week 13, Gardner was injured, and the Colts lost their third game out of four. Meanwhile, Mitchell's Jets won their third game in five.
Mitchell didn't have much to do with many of those previous victories for New York, but he certainly did their third. Against the Atlanta Falcons, the former Colts wide receiver set career-highs with eight catches and 102 yards, and, most importantly, he scored the first touchdown of his career. One that went for 52 yards.
Adonai Mitchell reaches a level of success he never would have with the Indianapolis Colts
Colts fans will remember quite unfondly that Gardner almost scored a touchdown for Indianapolis earlier this season, but began to celebrate before entering the end zone and dropped the ball inches before the goal line. The ball bounced out of the back of the end zone and gave the Los Angeles Rams a touchback. LA would eventually defeat Indy for the Colts' first loss of the season.
The play was one that Mitchell should never forget and never duplicate. He made sure to mention that after New York's Week 13 victory, too. In other words, a negative experience became a learning experience that helped turn into production.
Mitchell told reporters, "That (play) definitely crosses the mind. But it was a growing point and a learning point, so all I could do was grow and learn from it. And the only thing that was on my mind (Sunday) was just finish, finish, finish, finish."
He would have had a difficult time making such a mental error against the Falcons, as the situation was different. Mitchell caught the pass in the end zone instead of sprinting toward the same. Still, a drop on a sure touchdown pass would have been brutal.
Instead, his new team won and his old team, the Indianapolis Colts, lost. Did Adonai Mitchell find solace in that fact? Unlikely. He never seemed like a bad person, but simply a player who made mistakes. His best days might be ahead of him, and he was never going to be a great fit in Indy.