Colts
Colts HC Shane Steichen said that WR Adonai Mitchell‘s ability to stretch the field and his route running could add an extra dimension to the offense.
“His playmaking ability and his route-running ability is phenomenal,” Steichen said, via ESPN.
Mitchell said that he felt more comfortable entering his second year in the NFL.
“I feel more poised,” Mitchell, a 2024 second-round selection, said of his sophomore season. “Last year, it just felt like I was ripping and running from the start of camp. But I got the ability to get my first offseason under my belt. Got a lot of time to, first of all, relax and work at the same time. And now, we’re in Year 2 and I just feel more comfortable. I’m not focused on what the play is [or] what do I have to do? I’m focused on how I’m doing it and why I’m doing what I’m doing.”
Mitchell said that the biggest thing he was focusing on entering his second year was developing chemistry with both quarterbacks and maximizing what he’s capable of.
“I feel like I have a lot of ability, so I try to put it on full display every day, every snap,” he said. “And once it comes together, you kind of just hope day by day that you are able to look back at the day and say, ‘Did I do everything I could have done today and was I at my best?’ Everything else kind of works from there.”
Jaguars
Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence said he has become increasingly excited about first-round WR/CB Travis Hunter following a recent training camp practice.
“Really excited,” Lawrence said, via Michael DiRocco of ESPN. “I mean, if Friday was a glimpse of it, we should all be excited to see him running around out there, wherever it’s at on offense, defense — hopefully more offense, throwing that in there for us.”
Hunter didn’t participate in the final portion of the Jaguars’ practice that Friday. Liam Coen said they still have a “learning curve” with using Hunter as a two-way player.
“It’s just another added learning curve that we need to continue to work on, but I think he’ll say he was a little bit more tired than he usually gets,” Coen said. “But I thought he still showed up, made some plays across the middle as he’s kind of continued to do.”
Texans
The Texans picked up OT Aireontae Ersery in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of Minnesota. Golden Gophers OL coach Brian Callahan recalled the conversation he had with Ersery, where he told the lineman he had the potential to reach the NFL.
“It’s kind of funny you bring that up chronologically in terms of going from high school to the pros because I remember when we recruited him, when we got him, I remember after like maybe the first year, I remember one time he asked me: ‘Do you really I think I have a chance to make it to the NFL?’” Callahan said, via Aaron Wilson. ”I said, ‘Well, if you keep your attitude the way you have it now or you want to work, we’re big into changing your best around here and getting a little bit better every day. If you stick to that attitude, yes.’ I guarantee he remembers that conversation because I think there was the first time he really started thinking about, ‘Maybe I can be a pro.’ He’s got a great knack of being coachable in this sense like, we’ll coach him hard and get after him. If he made a mistake or whatever when he was younger, he could bounce back and he never let that affect him and he kept working to get better.”
Callahan said Ersery’s performance against Abdul Carter in Minnesota’s 26-25 loss to Penn State showed the lineman’s potential.
“Definitely, but I think he just did what he was capable of doing,” Callahan said. “Obviously, Abdul Carter is a great player, and we had to game plan to make sure that we accounted for him. Penn State did a good job of moving him around and such, but there was plenty of times that they went head-to-head, and I definitely feel that Aireontae more than held his own against him.”
Ersery thinks Texans OL coach Cole Popovich has a similar personality to Callahan.
“Cole Popovich, his style of offensive line play, his mindset and being able to relate to that, he has a similar personality to my offensive line coach in college,” Ersery said. “Being able to go out there and be coached, be with the older guys, I have learned from them. Then being able to come out here and play with guys who have been playing at a high level, it’s nothing but a blessing.”
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