Nate AtkinsIndianapolis Star
WESTFIELD - When Josh Downs dropped to the ground with a high ankle sprain in last Wednesday's practice, Colts coach Shane Steichen sent a passionate plea to his team to keep each other safe. He knew this injury wasn't good, and though Downs had avoided the worst-possible scenario of a broken ankle, an adjustment was in order for his offense.
As is his nature, Steichen didn't blink.
The very next practice, second-round rookie Adonai Mitchell was lined up in the slot with the first-team offense, running inside routes for the first time in his pro career.
The coaches hoped Mitchell could be ready for it, but anyone who knows this rookie out of Texas understands that confidence wasn't going to be a problem.
"I kind of look at plays and try to learn what everyone's doing on the field so that when that opportunity is granted or when I'm asked to play the slot, I can just step in and not miss a beat," Mitchell said after his first preseason game on Sunday.
"It felt good. I just went out there and had fun. I wasn't thinking too much. I just tried to play though my preparation."
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Mitchell played in a variety of alignments in college, and the Colts were fans of the diverse roles and NFL-style routes he learned at Texas under Steve Sarkisian, who spent the 2017-2018 seasons as the Falcons offensive coordinator. But it was still a bet, as Mitchell only spent one season in that system. He finished with 55 catches for 845 yards and 11 touchdowns last season in his lone productive college season.
"A lot of young guys in this league at any position, you’ve got to be real careful as a coaching staff, moving them around into multiple roles. Sometimes for young guys, for rookies, you really want them to learn their role and be really good at that," offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. "But AD (Mitchell) possesses the ability to learn all that stuff and do it really, really well. He's really on top of things mentally and all the stuff that Coach Reggie (Wayne) is going through with him.
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"AD is really, really sharp with that. So, we feel comfortable moving him around."
The Colts are just in the early stages of this experiment, and they know it's temporary. Downs is expected to miss four to six weeks, which could have him back for the season opener against the Texans or at risk of missing one or two games. It's a healthy amount of production to replace after he broke out as a third-round rookie last season with 68 catches for 771 yards, second on the team only to Michael Pittman Jr.
But the short-term shouldn't require a major adjustment.
"You can put anybody in the slot," Steichen said. "It’s all about what route concept you're running and where you want certain guys. Those guys are all interchangeable. That'll happen throughout the year. We'll move guys inside, outside. You'll see guys all over the place.”
That means the Colts could have moments where Pittman plays the slot, as he has done at times in his career and where he offers them a strong blocker in the run game when in 11 personnel. They could work a tight end like Kylen Granson or Jelani Woods in there. They could even look to newly signed running back Demetric Felton, who played some in the slot with the Browns as a rookie in 2021.
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But Mitchell is the one who offers the most natural upside for the passing game. Moving him inside is a way to get him and Alec Pierce on the field together, which can give Anthony Richardson's explosive arm two receivers who measure at least 6-foot-2 and can run a 40-yard dash in 4.41 seconds or less.
Instead of sharing a low-volume role with Pierce at the "X" spot, Mitchell can now be a bigger focus while Downs heals. He could perhaps be as high as Indianapolis' No. 2 option in the passing game behind Pittman, given the hodgepodge that continues to live at tight end.
“He's a dawg," Richardson said. "If you give him the ball, he's going to make a play. We throw it up for him, he’s going to make a play."
The move isn't likely to hold the same short-area or schematic advantages for Steichen as with Downs, who was enjoying perhaps the biggest training camp of any offensive player and had become a key piece in his ability to motion pre-snap to reveal whether the defense is in man or zone coverage.
But it is another way to tap into the upside that drew them to Mitchell, a surface he's now scratching in a variety of ways.
"I know what I'm doing, but now I'm transitioning over to why I'm doing it and how I'm going to execute it," Mitchell said. "Until I get there, I'm going to keep working at it."
Contact Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.
