The time off between minicamp ending and training camp beginning is an opportunity for players to recharge before the long NFL season begins. However, Colts’ wide receivers Michael Pittman and AD Mitchell are using this time to get together and workout.
#Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr. getting some more summer work in with rookie WR Adonai Mitchell.
“We goin’ rouge this season!” —> https://t.co/aAloO0HRGf
🎥 via MPJ’s IG pic.twitter.com/pBCUxb5mbe
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) July 5, 2024
The addition of Mitchell to the Colts’ receiver room will help elevate the competition within it–not only for Alec Pierce, whom Mitchell will be competing for playing time with, but at the position group in general. As Shane Steichen mentioned after the draft, there’s only one football to go around.
“I think it’s a great thing,” said Downs about the talent on offense. “You see a lot of teams, for example, the Bears, the Texans, they got three guys that can go, like for real, for real. So, at the end of the day, it opens up everything for everybody because you don’t just have one player to guard, you got three people that you got to guard, so nobody can really get double-teamed.
“So I feel like it’s a good thing and it will also bring out a lot of competitiveness in the guys because everybody do want the ball.”
Mitchell will add a new element to the offense with his 4.34 speed and explosiveness. His ability to win downfield will not only create more big play opportunities for the offense, but that presence will open up opportunities for others over the middle and on underneath routes.
Michael Pittman and Adonai Mitchell are working out together this offseason per Pittman’s Instagram pic.twitter.com/Sb1TkEa5uO
— Cody Felger (@CPFelger55) July 1, 2024
With that said, it’s not as if Mitchell is only a vertical threat. His explosiveness, coupled with his route running abilities, will allow him to make an impact in all parts of the field.
“You bring in AD and he’s very talented,” said Pittman. “Everything he does is so natural. I think he brings something extra that we didn’t have before. I’m learning stuff from him that I didn’t know before. Just the way he moves and the way he sets up moves. I think he’s elevating everybody. He’s all about football. We are always talking about concepts, routes, releases, set up moves. He’s all ball 24/7.”
Regardless of the quarterback situation during Pittman’s career with the Colts, he has produced, totaling at least 88 receptions in each of the last three seasons and eclipsing 1,000 yards in two of them, falling just short in 2022.
Pittman’s reliability can provide Anthony Richardson with a safety net as a stabilizing force in the passing game as Richardson navigates what are likely to be some inevitable ups and downs as a still fairly inexperienced player, with only 98 career dropbacks.
“He shows up every week,” Shane Steichen said of Pittman. “He is a consistent football player that is going to give it everything he’s got and when the ball is thrown to him, he’s going to go make plays. That’s what he does every week and he’s consistent doing it.
“When we need a big play, he’s the guy that makes it for us usually in the pass game. He’s been doing it here for a while and just very fortunate to have him on this football team.”
And not to be forgotten about at the receiver position is Josh Downs, who was a go-to target for Richardson during offseason programs with Pittman sitting out. Downs appears poised to make that Year 2 jump that many successful players have made.
#Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr. getting some offseason work in with rookie WR Adonai Mitchell —> https://t.co/ztpEWaMo3M
🎥 MPJ’s IG pic.twitter.com/inct2zbDQB
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) July 3, 2024
