On Thursday Night Football of Week 11 of the NFL season, former Indianapolis Colts Adonai Mitchell made his first start with the New York Jets. The Jets took on the New England Patriots in a match that felt like New England was in the driver's seat the entire time
The Patriots would end up winning 27-14, but the Jets put up a decent fight, scoring 14 points on a night where the offense was without star receiver Garrett Wilson. Funnily enough, New York's most impactful pass catcher was a receiver that they acquired through mid-season trade, it just wasn't Mitchell. John Metchie III was the team's receiving yards leader with 45 yards on the day.
Now, let's keep it in context, this is Mitchell's first game as a Jet. He's only been with the team for two weeks, and he definitely hasn't had the opportunity to perfectly learn the nuances of the playbook. Still, on a night where the Jets didn't have a true WR1 on the field, fans of New York were expecting more production from the young receiver.
Adonai Mitchell's first game back shows he's still the same player he was with the Colts
Mitchell's time in Indianapolis was characterized by untimely drops and mental mistakes. He had all of the talent in the world, but it always seemed like he was extraordinarily adept at almost making an amazing play instead of actually executing it.
AD Mitchell finished the night with one reception for 10 yards. That in and of itself is understandable on a night where quarterback Justin Fields only managed to throw for a paltry 116 yards, but the real indicator of Mitchell's performance is that he was targeted six times throughout the game.
Six targets, and he only managed to reel in one pass. If that's not the Adonai Mitchell experience that Colts fans had grown to expect when he was with the team, then what is?
Obviously, not all of these balls were catchable. In fact, a fair amount of them weren't even close to being well-placed balls. But a one-for-six catch rate on targets is still fairly abysmal, no matter how you slice it. Unfortunately for Mitchell, his New York debut left a lot to be desired.
Mitchell is a talented player, and by all accounts a good teammate. Colts fans should wish him nothing but the best going forward, but it would be disingenuous to not acknowledge that his poor performance makes Chris Ballard's move to trade for Sauce Gardner seem like a better deal. Two first round picks is still a hefty price tag, but to move off of a player who didn't fit with the rest of the team might even be viewed as a benefit for Indy.
It was clear from the end of the Rams game where Mitchell had his infamous fumble through the endzone, that his time in Indianapolis had an expiration date that was quickly approaching. Most fans didn't anticipate it to be this early, but from just a one game sample size, it's clear that just getting more targets wasn't the answer to Mitchell's problems.
Hopefully the young receiver is able to turn it around in New York, but this game makes the Colts addition of star cornerback Sauce Gardner seem even sweeter. After all, Gardner is only going to get better every week as he becomes more familiar with defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo's playbook.