OTA Notebook Recap: AD Mitchell Showing Off Playmaking

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INDIANAPOLIS – Thursday’s second open OTA session offered a potential glimpse into the Colts passing future.

This week concludes the voluntary part of the spring offseason program, with a mandatory minicamp coming next week.

Here are some takeaways from the Colts second open OTA session of the spring:

Anthony Richardson was again taking all the starting reps in Thursday’s second open OTA session of the spring. Like was observed last week, you watch Richardson and would have no idea he missed the majority of last season due to right shoulder surgery. The biggest takeaway from Richardson this spring has to be there’s little-to-no debate of where he’s at rehab wise, from a workload and/or throwing velocity standpoint. It’s all about Richardson growing and developing as a quarterback, more so than still rehabbing an injury. On Thursday, Richardson had a quiet start to his two 11-on-11 periods, finishing 4-of-5 with completions to Evan Hull, Trey Sermon, AD Mitchell and Will Mallory. Richardson was flushed (sacked) from the pocket a few times during 7-on-7, which usually indicates a win for the defense coverage wise.

The biggest Richardson-related highlight on Thursday came on a deep 7-on-7 connection to rookie AD Mitchell with Darrell Baker Jr. in coverage. After being unable to connect on a few deep shots earlier in practice, with one nearly picked off, Richardson put a beautiful ball into the basket of the second-round rookie, who made a terrific over the shoulder grab. Mitchell certainly let the defense know about it. Later in an 11-on-11 period, Richardson and Mitchell hooked up on a nice comeback completion. “He’s making a lot of plays,” is how Shane Steichen described Mitchell’s early start to his first NFL offseason. The variety of playmaking from Mitchell is certainly a good early sign.

With Jonathan Taylor (personal) not in attendance on Thursday, it allowed for plenty of starting running back reps for Trey Sermon, Tyler Goodson and Evan Hull. Both Sermon and Goodson broke off a couple of big runs (no full pads). Behind Taylor, the backup running back roles and reps are very much up in the air, so a practice like this is a great opportunity for that trio.

Tight end Jelani Woods is adamant he feels “more explosive” than he felt going back to his rookie season, after he missed all of last year due to nagging hamstring issues. Woods had another second-level catch on Thursday, after having a solid first open OTA session last week.

It should be noted the secondary did have a couple of nice plays on Thursday, including Kenny Moore on Josh Downs and Nick Cross on Alec Pierce.

Unlike last week when the Colts had 21 of their 22 starters participating, this week had a few more absences, mainly on the offensive side of the ball. Jonathan Taylor (personal) Michael Pittman Jr. (knee), Braden Smith (knee), Ashton Dulin (knee) and Dayo Odeyingbo (attending a wedding) were among the Colts not participating on Thursday. Shane Steichen said Taylor “should be back next week” for the mandatory minicamp. Steichen added that Pittman Jr. would likely practice if this were the regular season, but the Colts are just taking some spring caution with him. Remember, this time of year is still voluntary, with that changing for the minicamp, which is the only mandatory portion of the spring offseason program.

In the secondary, it appears CB-Jaylon Jones (above Dallis Flowers) and S-Nick Cross (above Rodney Thomas II) have the early leads in those position battles, based off what we’ve observed in our two open media sessions this offseason.