Daniel Jones is playing at a level that many did not think he could. He certainly didn't with the New York Giants for six seasons, but that might be more of a Giants problem. With the Indianapolis Colts. Jones is just fine.
So are most of his receivers. Alec Pierce suffered a concussion in Week 3, but should be fine long term and is having his best season so far. Michael Pittman is consistently good, and rookie tight end Tyler Warren is as good as advertised. But Adonai Mitchell? Not so much.
The second-year player who was a second-round draft pick simply must be better. As a rookie, he caught only 41.8 percent of his targets, but at least there was the excuse of having to play with underperforming Anthony Richardson. This year, there is no excuse.
Indianapolis Colts are succeeding with no help from Adonai Mitchell
Sure, he is catching the ball at a higher rate (barely), but he just isn't being targeted very much. This is strange, as Daniel Jones clearly likes moving the ball around, and the QB will throw it to a receiver if there is a glimpse they are open, so what is going on?
Maybe Mitchell is dealing with a minor injury, but he is clearly healthy enough to play, so he needs to be more effective. While Indy has been scoring on nearly every drive, Mitchell only has eight targets through three games and has caught four of them for 41 yards. Oddly, only one of his catches is for a first down.
In Week 3's Indianapolis Colts blowout of the Tennessee Titans, Mitchell didn't catch either of his two targets. In other words, while the rest of the team was busy scoring 34 offensive points (another touchdown was on an interception return), Mitchell was basically invisible.
Colts fans are sadly having to get used to that, though. A second-round receiver needs to be productive in his second season and beyond. Being a rookie can be tough, but Mitchell is past that now. At some point, he will need to help Indy win games, and he isn't yet.
In fact, no proof exists that he can. Indianapolis is 3-0 with very little help from Adonai Mitchell. Moving forward, the receiver could easily see even fewer reps. If he isn't going to help the Colts perform well and others are, then Mitchell just doesn't need to play.