Was it Adonai Mitchell's coming-out party at MetLife Stadium on Sunday? That may be a little strong, but one thing was inescapable late Sunday afternoon: AD Mitchell just enjoyed the biggest game of his short career and it was instrumental in lifting the Jets to their narrow, gritty and satisfying 27-24 victory over the NFC-playoff-hopeful Atlanta Falcons.
"It felt good, especially contributing to a win," Mitchell said in the Jets' buoyant home locker room. "I feel that was the biggest thing. Just being around this team the past three, four weeks, I see how hard these guys work. We always talk about play for each other. So it felt good all-around. It felt good."
Considering WR John Metchie III's earlier trade arrival and week faster start, some fans may have wondered if Mitchell was a Sauce Gardner trade throw-in when the Jets dealt one of their top defensive stars the first week of November. Head coach Aaron Glenn knew better.
"He's here for a reason," Glenn said. "He was never a throw-in. He was a guy we wanted. We watched him coming out of college. He's actually from my hometown, went to high school with my daughter. I've known about him for a while. He's a true 'X' body type, he has good speed, he can win 1-on-1's."
"The opportunity felt good," Mitchell said, "but opportunities aren't given, they're always earned, so I'm just happy to have contributed to a win."
How many opps did Mitchell take advantage of? Let us count some of the the ways:
■ It was Mitchell's first pro TD catch and the Jets' longest pass of the season. It wasn't AD's longest catch this season, though, as he contributed a 75-yarder for the Colts at the Rams in Week 4.
■ Mitchell finished with 12 targets, eight catches for 102 yards, all career highs, leading to his first 100-yard receiving game, obviously, but also the Jets' first 100 receiver since Davante Adams' nine-catch, 198-yarder vs. Jacksonville in Week 15 last year. Mitchell also had four first downs and two third-down conversions.
■ While his longball was the gem, his two shorter grabs in the final minute were neat baubles as well. A 10-yarder got the Jets to second-and-5 at the ATL 38 with 20 seconds left, then his 5-yarder converted third-and-5 to the 33, in effect positioning Nick Folk for his long, lower-left-corner game-winner (after a false start) from 56 yards out,
"I feel like every play mattered in that game," Mitchell said. "From a touchdown pass to a touchdown run to the little dinks and dunks that just happened to move the ball down the field, it was definitely a game that every little thing mattered, every detail mattered, it felt like."
"He's always known that he can play," Glenn said. "He's had some issues within his career as far as playing, but I don't think he's ever lost confidence in himself. I think once he got here, it just helped him with his confidence that he was wanted, and the players gravitated to him."
Mitchell and Metchie may be known as the G&W's M&M boys for a short while longer — AD said while Metchie works the JUGS before practice, he catches balls from the ball machine afterward, and the two are always at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center together early to soak up the details and culture that they may have missed with their late arrivals.
But they'll separate, and not just in pass patterns. And everyone seems very bullish on the future for the two new wideouts, who also took turns with dynamic plays, Metchie with TD catches the previous two games before Mitchell's high-water mark against the Falcons.
"We're going to try to get the ball to him as much as we can. We want to continue to get him the ball as much as we can," Glenn said. "I look forward to seeing him progress as the season goes on and coming back next year and being a big part of what we're doing."
And Mitchell is looking forward to improving his still thin but fattening résumé in his next game, back at MetLife a week from Sunday, against the Dolphins. As he reflected once more on the trade and on his first pro touchdown reception:
"I was watching film with the quarterback, preparing for Atlanta. I was told and I was just surprised, but after the surprise feeling went away, I was just excited for a new chapter, a new beginning, and just to kind of put everything in the past in the past. I guess life comes full circle for me, to get my first one against Atlanta. So I'm happy to be a Jet, man."
