Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Adonai Mitchell needed a big season to make up for the disappointment of his rookie year. During training camp, there was some hope that he would show the improvement that fans all hoped to see from him. And initially, he started off fairly well. But it hasn't taken long for any glimmer of hope surrounding Mitchell to be snuffed out.
The Colts lost to the Los Angeles Rams 27-20, and while blame can't entirely be laid on Mitchell, he certainly played a large part. He caught an incredible deep pass from Daniel Jones, and ran it in for a touchdown... only to pull a Jonathan Taylor, and drop the ball just before crossing over the goal line. Whoops.
It seems no wonder that Mitchell doesn't get targeted very often; he is proving again and again that he cannot be relied upon. And it's for that exact reason he's been counted as among the worst in the league for Week 4.
Analyst gives a harsh grade to Indianapolis Colts' Adonai Mitchell
In his list of the five worst performances of Week 4, Eric Smithling included Adonai Mitchell, likely to no one's surprise.
OH NO! 😱
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 28, 2025
Adonai Mitchell began celebrating too soon and lost the ball before reaching the end zone. pic.twitter.com/2wfUBQoJ5n
As Smithling pointed out, this has become far too common for the Colts.
"Making matters worse for Mitchell, he was also flagged for holding late in the fourth quarter, nullifying a 53-yard Taylor touchdown run. The Colts were off to a perfect start before Sunday, and without Mitchell's bad game, they might be 4-0."Eric Smithling
And yet, though Mitchell continues to flounder, head coach Shane Steichen inexplicably still is vouching for his future in Indianapolis.
“It’s hard to explain in that situation, but we have a lot of faith in ‘AD’ and this is a bump in the road for him,” Steichen said in his media remarks after the game. “He’s going to bounce back, and we have a lot of confidence in his abilities.”
It's hard to know why Steichen thinks there is any reason for the Colts to have confidence in his abilities. Yes, Mitchell led the Colts in receiving with 96 yards, but does that matter when he is ruining plays left and right? And it's not as if he's regularly making incredible plays and just had one oopsie of a game. Mitchell is regularly a disappointment.
Steichen can hardly publicly label Mitchell as such, and to be fair, it would be wrong for him to throw a player under the bus in front of the media (something he evidently didn't understand last season). But it might be time for Mitchell to stop getting so many opportunities if the Colts want to stay atop the AFC South this season.