INDIANAPOLIS — AD Mitchell knew he had to say something to his teammates and coaches. He owed them that much. The Indianapolis Colts wide receiver suddenly became the talk of the NFL for all of the wrong reasons. A few seconds was all it took for Mitchell to turn the best play of his career into the worst. A dazzling catch for what should have been a 76-yard go-ahead score, his first touchdown in the NFL, in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Rams, was reduced to a 75-yard reception and touchback when Mitchell celebrated prematurely by sticking the ball out near the goal line and fumbling it through the end zone.

There were no excuses for what he’d done. No justification to mitigate his mistake.

Colts coach Shane Steichen had just gone over the team’s “letters and logos” slogan that was implemented to remind players to run the ball into the end zone, where a team’s letters and logos are painted, and Mitchell still committed the ultimate football sin. Less than 24 hours after his indefensible gaffe, he stood before his team and asked for forgiveness.

“We were going to meet about it anyway, and that’s pretty much the only way to get through it,” Mitchell told The Athletic. “First, you have to acknowledge what you did wrong and take accountability. I know people want to ask me like, ‘Do I still look back at that? Do I still think it’s my fault?’ Hell yeah, I do. There ain’t a moment when I don’t think about it.”

Mitchell’s fumble was one of two touchdown-erasing mistakes in the Colts’ lone loss of the season. The other was a brutal holding penalty that erased a 53-yard go-ahead touchdown run by running back Jonathan Taylor in the fourth quarter. In the weeks since then, Mitchell has had to look inward more than ever before as he’s tumbled down the depth chart amid the Colts’ 6-1 start.

“You kinda get lost when you don’t get that opportunity, so I’ve just been trying to cherish every moment and just make the most of every moment I get because I don’t know when I’m gonna get that s— again,” Mitchell said. “I hope I haven’t played my last offensive snap.”

It’s no longer a given how much Mitchell will play or if he’ll even play at all. The reality is that Indy will try to move to 7-1 against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, with or without him in the lineup.

“I mean s—, bro, it ain’t easy, especially just going back over my career,” Mitchell said. “This is the most adversity I’ve ever faced, pretty much at the top of where I always wanted to get to (in football) …

“I’d be a liar if I said it doesn’t get to me. I’m human.”

Following Mitchell’s Week 4 disaster, he’s hardly seen the field. Mitchell was active in Week 5, but despite starting receiver Alec Pierce being sidelined due to a concussion, Mitchell still only played six snaps — all in the fourth quarter. If the Colts hadn’t blown out the Las Vegas Raiders, he likely wouldn’t have checked in. Steichen, who’s repeatedly stated Mitchell has to “earn it,” chose to play core special teamer Ashton Dulin at wide receiver over Mitchell, a 2024 second-round pick. When Pierce returned to the lineup in Week 6, Mitchell was inactive for the first time in his career. And last week, in Mitchell’s return to SoFi Stadium, with starting receiver Josh Downs out with a concussion and Dulin sidelined with a chest injury, Steichen still turned to 2024 fifth-round pick Anthony Gould before he relied on Mitchell. Gould played 39 offensive snaps, compared to just five for Mitchell.

In fact, Mitchell wound up being Dulin’s replacement, filling in for two reps as a gunner on punt coverage against the Los Angeles Chargers. The 23-year-old hadn’t played a special teams snap since he played at Georgia. Mitchell said at one point in his career, “he always wanted to play gunner,” so he was thrilled to just get his number called. Deep down, though, he’s still yearning for his next real opportunity at receiver.

“He’s been in the right mindset ever since that thing happened a couple weeks ago,” Steichen said. “He’s attacked it the right way. He’s going about his business the right way. And then as soon as he continues to get more and more opportunities, it’ll happen again for him.”

Second-year wide receiver AD Mitchell is awaiting his next opportunity to help the 6-1 Indianapolis Colts. (Christine Tannous / IndyStar / USA Today via Imagn Images)

Veteran wide receiver Laquon Treadwell praised Mitchell for being a pro, regardless of his role, which he explained is a lot harder than it looks. Treadwell was a first-round pick in 2016, but these days he’s on the practice squad, occasionally getting called up on game days. The 30-year-old said it can be challenging to stay confident when the opportunities you once had are reduced, so he’s remained in Mitchell’s ear, teasing him about having better gunner reps — Treadwell had two tackles as a gunner last week — and reminding him of his potential.

“I always tell him that regardless of the highs and lows, I’ll never change on him,” Treadwell said. “In this business, if you have a bad game or bad moment, it can feel like guys don’t look at you the same. But I try my best to be a good role model for that, just to let him know that I’m someone he can lean on. I’ve been through a lot, and at the end of the day, one play doesn’t define your career. He’s still a great player.”

If there is a silver lining throughout all of this, it was the 8-yard catch Mitchell had last week on his lone target. That play won’t be remembered by the masses, but it meant a lot to Mitchell because it was his first catch since his Week 4 nightmare. The scary part, Mitchell admitted, is that he doesn’t know when the next one will come, especially with Downs and Dulin trending toward playing this Sunday.

One of the biggest lessons Mitchell said he’s learned since his fumble in L.A. — besides “just hold on to the ball” — is that he is expendable. The Colts haven’t missed a beat since sending him to the bench and boast the No. 1 scoring offense in the NFL at 33.1 points per game. Mitchell is well aware that they don’t “need a wideout,” but when the chance comes for him to play meaningful offensive snaps again, he vowed to be ready.

“This is all I ever done, dog,” Mitchell said. “This is pretty much the only thing I’ve ever really found joy in besides just being around my family. I hated school, so I knew I wasn’t gonna work a regular job. But now that this is my job, I just can’t take it for granted. I gotta make this work.”