What an awful Week 4 Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Adonai Mitchell had. He made two glaring mistakes that can be argued cost his team the game against the Los Angeles Rams. Indy lost by seven points, and Mitchell took away 14 from the Colts.
But he knows this. Fans know this. The coaching staff knows this. Verbally beating up the young wide receiver does no one any good. His body language during the game said he felt bad, and he took responsibility for his actions afterward.
On one play, he caught a pass from quarterback Daniel Jones and was about to turn the catch into a 75-yard touchdown, but he let the ball go for no reason just as he was about to enter the end zone. The ball bounced away and gave the Rams a touchback and the ball.
CBS Sports NFL analyst wraps up Indianapolis Colts' Adonai Mitchell's Week 4 perfectly
The second play was a 53-yard touchdown run by running back Jonathan Taylor that was called back because of a hold by Mitchell. It was an easy call for the officials because the receiver basically just ripped the defender to the ground. Mitchell's fundamentals on the "block" were some of the worst you might see.
Still, it was admirable that AD Mitchell did not try to make excuses after the game. He stood in front of his locker, answered every question, said clearly what went wrong, and looked, well...miserable.
That was also the word that CBS Sports' Tyler Sullivan used to summarize how Mitchell's game went against LA: "Miserable." Sullivan didn't stop there, though.
Naming Mitchell among his "gaffes" of the week, the CBS Sports analyst wrote, "Why does this always seem to happen? Hold onto the football until you cross the goal line! It seems like the simplest thing to do, but time and time again, we see players do exactly what Adonai Mitchell did at the beginning of the third quarter against the Rams."
Sullivan is completely correct, of course. Any time that a player is about to run into the end zone and drops the ball without being touched, it is their fault. There is no reason to celebrate before getting a few yards in. What exactly is the player trying to do anyway? The showboating makes zero sense.
Indianapolis Colts fans will never really know what Adonai Mitchell was going to do in his celebration. He just started transitioning the ball when it went through his hands and out of the end zone. He will almost certainly never make the mistake again.
As to how much he plays in Week 5 against the Las Vegas Raiders, that remains to be seen. If fellow wide receiver Alec Pierce returns from concussion protocol, Mitchell's reps will diminish. Maybe one day he will have his chance at redemption, though.