It's been a dizzying last month for Adonai Mitchell, going from "a situation I was comfortable in" with Indianapolis to becoming one of the new young press-and-play dudes in the Jets wide receivers room.
"I was pretty shocked, like kind of everybody else was, kind of shocked ... and not really that shocked," Mitchell said of the trade that brought him to northern New Jersey a week after the Jets also traded for WR John Metchie III. "I was excited. It was a brand new start. It kind of felt like being a rookie again."
Mitchell had to get to know whole family of new faces, not to mention the innumerable pages of pass patterns in the Jets playbook. But what made the transition easier was being with a longtime friend ... sort of.
"Tyrod has done an amazing job just helping me and Metchie out," Mitchell said of Tyrod Taylor, who became the receivers' starting QB the week before Sunday's game at the Ravens. "Especially this past week, we just spent pretty much the whole week together. And before we were really acclimated to the offense, he took the time to explain to us certain things with the plays. He's definitely a vet's vet."
Taylor. also in that odd way that virtual relationships can develop in the NFL, can be a BTF — best teammate forever? — even though Mitchell, in his season-plus with Indianapolis, had never played with the 15th-year QB. But AD remembers Tyrod fondly from the QB's first days as a pro with Baltimore in 2011.
"I was joking earlier this week with him that I just remember when he took his first snap as a Raven," Mitchell said. "I was like, 'Dang, when did the Ravens get Mike Vick? This dude is nice.'
"I was probably 12 or younger around the time. So it's cool to be around him and get all the knowledge I can, because I don't know how much longer he wants to play this game. But I'm glad I'm able to get a piece of the action and just learn from him as much as I can. He played with dudes like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed — that's amazing."
Mitchell hopes to be a little bit of awesome himself while wearing the green and white. He entered the NFL as Indy's second-round pick in 2024, bringing his 4.34-second speed to the league after two seasons at Georgia and a strong final college campaign at Texas. On his 35 pro receptions, he's averaging a strong midrange 14.7 yards/catch. He showed some of those skills on the Jets' longest wideout reception of their past three games when he corralled Taylor's 26-yarder on second-and-11 from midfield in the third quarter vs. the Ravens.
"It's speed and manipulation," Mitchell said of creating downfield separation against his coverage. "Knowing when to press the gas, setting up pressing the gas and hitting the brakes, things like that. I truly feel like it's an offensive game and the DB has to react to the receiver. And when you've got two guys on the same page, being the quarterback and the receiver, the quarterback knows the depth you have to hit, he knows where you're going.
"Once you guys are that on point, that's when things become unstoppable, because I don't really think that in man-to-man coverage we should ever lose."
Mitchell, along with Metchie and the possible IR returns of Garrett Wilson and Josh Reynolds, could get to strut in the coming weeks as he shows increasing comfortability in his new scheme of things. He seems to like his new mates, his new offense and his new coaches..
AD at 23 just seems to enjoy being a part of the Green & White solution.
"I think we have a lot of weapons on offense," he said. "I think we have a great offensive line. And Coach Tanner [Engstrand, the OC], I feel like he knows what he's doing. He understands the situations, he understands his players, just playing to everybody's strengths. I just feel if we're all able to play to our strengths, we've got something."
