Adonai Mitchell had never played in the slot receiver position in a game before the Colts' preseason game against the Denver Broncos Sunday.
The rookie was drafted primarily because of his skills out wide, as the 6-foot-2 wide receiver's explosiveness and speed meant he was always a threat downfield. But throughout his first NFL training camp, and now his first NFL preseason game, Mitchell has shown he's much more than that.
He's proven he's a player who can play multiple roles – not just the one he might be most known for – and possesses an innate ability to continue to learn and grow.
"Really can't say enough about AD's ability to learn whatever's asked of him," offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter told media Tuesday. "(We) don't take that for granted from a rookie receiver in this league. A lot of young guys in this league, in 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. But AD possesses the ability to learn all that stuff and do it really, really well."
The Colts opted to bring Mitchell on to play in the slot after Josh Downs – who typically occupies that role – sustained an ankle injury during a training camp practice. In the eight snaps Mitchell played on Sunday, he split them evenly between the slot and out wide.
Who else played in the slot, you may ask? The answer is just about everybody. And that's exactly what the Colts were planning on.
"All our guys really work all the spots," Cooter said. "We're able to formationally move guys around all over the field."
So, while Michael Pittman Jr. and Alec Pierce are certainly not your typical slot receivers – Pittman has held the role of the Colts' primary outside receiver for most of his career, with Pierce playing opposite him – they can still play there, and they can play well.
Let everyone try different routes and different positions, Cooter said. Why not? The talent is there, and you never know when a certain formation could give you just the right advantage to win a game.
"For any of our guys, we feel confident that if we're in 11-personnel, where we've got those three wide receivers out there, we can kind of put – we think – our entire receiver room in any of those three roles," Cooter said. "We've got a group that can do a lot of different things well."
"You can put anybody in the slot, you know what I mean?" head coach Shane Steichen said Friday. "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."
The story around the Colts wide receivers room at the beginning of training camp was centered around Mitchell and Pierce, and who would earn the starting outside receiver position opposite Pittman. Now, it seems, that has changed.
Of course, Mitchell and Pierce are still competing for a role. But so is everyone else in the room.
Anthony Gould, D.J. Montgomery, Ethan Fernea and Laquon Treadwell have all taken reps in the slot either in training camp or in the first preseason game as well, eager to prove their own versatility and value however they can.
"It's a resilient, competitive group," Cooter said. "There's some competition going on in there. Whether it's for a starting position or a role within the team or just a few reps here or there, they're trying all to show that they can be the best guy that runs a certain route, you know, those types of things."
Of course, there's only so much you can really show when every practice is against your own team's defense. That's why the final few weeks before the regular season begins are so important. The Colts host the Arizona Cardinals for joint practices and a preseason game this weekend before traveling to Cincinnati to play the Bengals next week, and every time they go out on the field the wide receivers will have a brand-new chance to prove themselves.
"Different guys, different matchups, maybe different coverage techniques that we haven't seen in training camp," Cooter said. "We're excited about what training camp has been to this point, and the next couple weeks are going to be probably just as big, if not bigger."
The Colts don't know what their regular season personnel will look like yet, and might not know until gameday. That's just fine.
"The story's not written yet," Cooter said. "They're going to go compete like crazy these next couple weeks to play good ball."
