Colts rookie wide receiver trying simplify his game

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Colts rookie wide receiver Adonai Mitchell has struggled to start the season.

Mitchell has just six catches for 70 yards through his first five games. In Weeks 3 and 4, he did not have a catch.

But, with an injury to Michael Pittman Jr., he could have a larger role in the wide receiver room moving forward.

Mitchell reflected on the start of his career in the NFL and talked about what he’s learned so far.

“I’m young,” Mitchell said. “A lot to learn, a lot to grow from, and ain’t nobody in the Hall of Fame from their rookie year. Five games in, we’re going to keep going, and we’re going to look back at this moment and speak about things a lot differently.”

He said he’s looking at it like his freshman year of college again.

In his freshman year of college at Georgia, he had 29 receptions for 426 yards and four touchdowns. He appeared in every game, but did not break out immediately. He struggled in his sophomore year too, playing just six games and having nine catches.

He didn’t break out until his junior year when he transferred to Texas.

Mitchell added that there are a lot of things that he does well and a lot of things that he’s still working on.

“Be a lot more simple,” he said. “I feel like I complicate things a lot of times. Try to put a lot of hot sauce on routes, and sometimes all you need is salt.”

It was critiqued during the game against the Jaguars that Mitchell had “gator arms.” Mitchell agreed that it did look like that.

“The way it looked. I’d say that’s pretty fair to the naked eye,” Mitchell said. “But like I said, the details matter in everything. If you’re thinking one thing as a receiver (and) your quarterback thinking another thing, the only thing that matters is the result.”

Mitchell had his best game statistically against the Jaguars last week (four catches for 38 yards) and threw a 24 yards pass as well.

Colts wide receiver Josh Downs has missed both practices so far this week and is listed as questionable heading into the Colts game against the Titans on Sunday, so they could be without two of their top three receivers.

The Colts and Titans will kick off at 1 p.m. in Nashville on Sunday..

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