September 29, 2025 • 26 mins
00:00 - 26:04 - Stephen Holder of ESPN joins the show; he and JMV first discuss how AD Mitchell’s disastrous afternoon in LA may have wiped away any goodwill or progress he has made up to that point, and where he goes from here.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
On the Anymore Automotive Group pipeline with Steven Holder of
ESPN on ESPN dot com. Is uh ad Mitchell's back
to back GAVs. Not back to back, but certainly in
that game, two major GAVs significant enough to have him cut.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
James, it doesn't sound like he's there.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
That was a hell of a lead question right there, though.
There you go, sorry about that. Did you mute yourself?
Speaker 3 (00:26):
No, No, that was me. I was muted.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
You're supposed to blame like I do.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Bleme the producer say hey, James man, bring me up,
but go ahead.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
So I don't think he's getting cut. I don't think
that's been discussed, no indication of that. However, I am
starting to believe that he's getting benched. Well, you certainly
won't see him as much. Just as a matter of fact,
just a little bit ago, spoke to Shane Steichen for
(00:56):
the usual Monday update, and you know, that was obviously
a a big point of emphasis in the conversation was
you know, what do you do with this kid? And
two things? Number one. You know, however, they try to
make it sound like, you know, everybody makes mistakes. It
was a big deal and they know It's a big
deal because Mitchell opened their team meeting today when they
(01:17):
reconvened by apologizing to the entire team and taking accountability
for what happened. So, I mean, I think that speaks
to the level of screw up. What you're talking about here.
You know, that's not something you hear all the time.
So that's the first thing. The other thing is in
talking about it. Shane said that he had a one
(01:38):
on one conversation or a meeting with Mitchell today and
he said the one thing he made clear to him
is that he is going to have to earn it
moving forward. And he said that repeatedly. I'm reading between
the lines here, but the way he delivered that and
the way he said it and emphasized it, I wondered
if that meant You're gonna have to sit down for
(01:59):
a little bit until we figure out what to do
with you. Frankly, I said that last year when he
was down the stretch really kind of starting to come
apart and was making a lot of mistakes. This was
probably amid the Denver game where he had the big
mistake there, and then there were lots of other plays
where he ran incorrect routes or you know, maybe contributed
(02:21):
to a turnover, like an interception or some such I
was saying it then, like you just got to sit
this kid down until he figures it out. And I
thought he was turning a corner. I think I told
that to you on this show last week. I thought
he was turning a corner. I thought we were seeing
what we were promised, or beginning to see more of it,
(02:42):
at least with a d Mitchell. And whatever progress he
may have made, it's all gone now he is erased,
all of it, all of the goodwill, all of the
sentiment is all gone.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
I think after yesterday Stephen Holden vs ESPN dot com
or the Andy Morot deomoutive group potline, now, well, a
lot of this not you know, I'm assuming you're kind
of alluding to the fact that you think that he
may not be active healthy deactivation coming up Sunday.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
We'll get to that in a second.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
But will a lot of this be taken care of
anyway if you get a healthy Alec Pierce back this week?
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Sure, for sure, that's why he was out there so
much yesterday. I think that was his season high, him
being Mitchell. That was I think easily his season high
and a number of snaps that he played, and it's
because it was necessary. So I mean, shame was asked
well after he made that big screw up, did you
(03:44):
think about putting him on the bench even at that point,
And what Stichen said is that no, we we couldn't
because we needed him. We were down a very important
player and we need him. So he played out the
rest of the game. I think he might have even
had another catch later on. So they felt like there
wasn't really the opportunity to do that in that game.
(04:05):
But I mean, if Alex Pearis is okay, I have
no idea, but he's supposed to be have been making
progress with the concussion late last week. So if that's
the case, then you would think he's got a good
shot to come back this coming Sunday. It would take
care of it, there's no question. But they were looking
for ways to get to get ad Mitchell involved because
(04:27):
he is talented. Even with Pierce out there, they have
been looking for ways and I think you can go
back to the first few games and see, I mean,
he played and he was getting i think increasingly getting
more opportunities. So that was a choice. Okay, that was
a choice the Colts made because they didn't have to
play him. They have three solid guys and Tyler Warren,
(04:49):
so they were actively trying to get him involved and
he has failed them now and I got to anticipate
those efforts will come to an end for the most part.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
So you think that he's going to be inactive Sunday,
I just think.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I just think you have to pull back. You have
to pull back. And I think shame was saying it
in not so many words when he says you're gonna
have to earn it. I think that means at least
in the short term, like you're gonna have to go
think about this, you know, when you put your kids
in time out, like he needs to be in time out.
I mean at minimum. And listen, the thing we're not
(05:27):
we're not talking enough about is probably that holding call.
And I know he's got he's got killed for that too,
but I want to emphasize something here and this is
important on that holding call. And I have a clip
of it on my Twitter and so feel free if
you if you follow me, to go look at the video,
the All twenty two video. Here's why it's important. The
(05:51):
technique he uses on that block is so unbelievably poor
and so ridiculous. It is not taught on any level
of football. I don't know who taught him to block
like that.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
And it's just he looked pissed, and he looked pissed.
I mean, and to me, I mentioned this Stephen a
little bit earlier. And obviously the play that cost you
seven then the play they cost you fourteen. But prior
to the hold, he looked like a guy that you
(06:24):
could tell. CBS kept the camera on him, kept showing
him and going back to it.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
He looked like a guy that should not have been
on the field.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Well, you know he talked about losing focus when he
dropped the ball crossing the goal line. Well if you
thought he lacked focused, then he really lacked focus after that. Right,
he's slamming his helmet And look, some guys can make
a mistake and be pissed and have a moment like
that and pull themselves together and go back out there
and it maybe drives them to go finish strong. And look,
(06:59):
I'm not a I'm not a therapist or anything. I
don't know. I'm not psychoanalyzed. Aby Mitchell, nor does anybody
want me to do that? But I might need some
of that sometimes. But anyhow, but you do have to wonder,
just like from a maturity perspective, like was he able
to handle that moment, you know, and go play in
(07:22):
a really tight game against a really good opponent where
there was no margin for error? And so I don't know.
I mean, I think it's a fair question, and based
on the way he finished the game, I think, you know,
it's justified in being asked.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
That moment where he dropped the football. That's his career.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
It's his career in a nutshell, really, because you saw
both sides of it. You saw both, I mean really
both the good and the bad of what everybody believes
he represents in level of talent on this football team.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
You know, think about it. You know, we have talked
about Anthony Richardson at nauseum right over the past year
and his ups and downs and all that. Right, I
would argue, and I'm not comparing their roles because the
starting quarterback is a completely different deal than the number
three or four wide receiver. They're not the same, They're
(08:17):
not even on the same planet. Right, But just think
about it. In terms of how we view the two players.
Anthony Richardson has had infinitely more contributions to this team
winning games than Ady Mitchell ever has. He's never helped
them win a game. No, okay, I mean he certainly
(08:37):
has made a few plays. I don't want to overlook that.
But in the grand scheme, I said this yesterday watching
it live, it dawned on me his net contribution to
the Indianapolis Coast is a huge negative. Over the course
of his year and four games. At this point, he
is in the red so far that I don't even
know how he gets out of it. It would take him forever.
(08:59):
That's how many negat the plays he has had, you
know what I'm saying. So even if you're the biggest
Anthony Richardson hater, right, you can still say, all right,
he put together some game winning drives. He made display
that play, and that guy got benched, and they would
have got a guy and paid him fourteen millions to
fourteen millions to replace him. So and he had some contributions,
(09:20):
this guy has done nothing in the grand scheme. So
I cannot I cannot justify You cannot justify putting him
out there. You absolutely cannot and if you do it
and he fails you again, then you're the idiot.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Well, I would suggest this, how do you have the
best player on the team do that less than a
year ago in Denver which ultimately costs you a playoff spot, clearly,
and then have that happen again and basically what less
than five six or so games you know, different season.
But certainly, where's the Who's not getting the message? I mean,
(10:00):
is it just him? Is it just that's who you're
dealing with right there? How's that message not? Because people
have said you got to make it a point in
cutting him, and I'm thinking, how do you not recognize
what you have? By now, everybody should score touchdown and
run the ball over to the official and run off
the field.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
By now, you would think.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
It should be muscle memory. By now, There's no question
about it. I would say this. I have been around
this game for two decades the NFL, and I can
think of two or three instances where I've seen this happen.
And I have now seen it happen twice in the
span of like eight games. That's incredible, And the first
(10:45):
time I'm not saying I'm not excusing what Johnson Taylor did,
and Jonathan Taylor has never tried to make an excuse
for it, right, But I am saying that the first
time it happened, it was such a big deal and
he was so widely ridiculed for it. I mean, he
was mocked for that on national TV. And I ain't
going to defend it either. That's on you, man. But
(11:08):
after seeing all of that, you're telling me it had
no impression on you. I think that tells us a
lot about ad Mitchell. Man. I hate this. I feel
like we're beating up on this kid, but the same
college football buddy. It's just not sorry, and he's gonna
have to wear this, and he will wear it for
a very long time. And this is gonna be you know,
(11:31):
just as that that tap out was defining for Anthony Richardson,
this is going to define ad Mitchell, telling you until
until he makes a hell of a lot of plays
to over to overrule what he has done or overshadow
what he has done. This is going to define him.
And that's just that's just gonna be his his That's
(11:52):
just gonna be what he has to deal with from
now on.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
I think that means that a certain afternoon sports talk
show host needs to swoop in like he in support
of Miles Turner and support Ady Mitchell.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
I think that's going to be me.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Now.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
I completely understand It's it really in the grand scheme
of things. It's not like it is the deal happened
yesterday and that led directly, I think unlike an individual
can in such a team oriented sport. That certainly is
a non quarterback that can lead a team to a loss.
(12:31):
That's exactly what he did. I mean, when you go
minus fourteen like that, you can have the finger pointed
at you. That's that's certainly where you where you are
with this? Are you surprised that they haven't made some
sort of I guess in this case, decision to say,
all right, this is how this can't be here if there,
(12:53):
if they are as serious about it as you suggest,
are you surprised they just don't wash their hands of
the situation right now now? Or is it a numbers game?
Is it still thinking about the talent a second round pick?
Where are we with that in mind?
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Well, second round pick for sure, right which I understand,
and I think the reality is he is very talented.
Ady Mitchell is easily, okay, easily the most talented wide
receiver on this team. And yet here we are having
this conversation. He is just, you know, an enigma. Okay,
(13:34):
He's one of the biggest enigmas I have ever seen
in all my years. I don't know what to make
of this guy. You know, one guy who I know
that Chris Valley was really frustrated with when he got
here was TJ. Green. You remember TJ Green, the safety
we all remember.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
I'm sure you remember, yeah, And they have a lot
of parallels in fact, right, they were both drafted pretty
early off the charts athletically, I mean, just superhuman athletically.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
TJ. Green just he just didn't know how to play football. Okay,
he just didn't know. He just did not understand how
to play football. And and Ady Mitchell, he's just so
often even if you watch him play, doesn't he looks
at times like sort of out of control. He never
(14:25):
looks like he's under control. He's like a wild mustang
out there, right, he just watch him running around, you know,
his form everything.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
It's like, we're definitely having a conversation about Adie Mitchell
that we would have been having after a week two
loss in that fashion of Shane.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Steichen, Are we not? Because we'd have had a we'd
had a conversation just like.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
That had they lost that game against Denver, and I
guess the other conversation we should have.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
So where's the finger pointing going on.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
With why on a play where too too at Well
ran all the way to Elsa Gundo a touchdown in
the game win or there are only ten dudes on
the field, So.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
That ultimately is a coaching failure period in the story. Now, certainly,
whatever eleventh player was supposed to be out there, I'm
pretty sure it was a defensive back. I'm not going
to speculate on which one, but just based on coverage
they were playing, they were missing a defensive back from
what I could see, and so anyhow, maybe a linebacker.
(15:29):
But but I think I think a I think it
was a dying package. So anyhow, that's a coaching failure.
I asked Shane, just now, what is the flow of information,
the flow of communication? How does that work? I mean,
the way this goes is the defensive coordinator says, okay,
we're running X on this play, whatever coverage they're running,
(15:51):
and within that, the players who are in that particular package.
You know, they got to get out there, and that
is also communicated by their position coaches as well, so
it trickles down coordinator, position coaches, players. But you should
all be right right there next to your position coach
getting the information relayed to you, because the coaches are
(16:16):
wearing headsets and all talking to each other and boom.
I mean, this is this happens on every single play
of every single NFL game every week, right. This is
pretty routtine, basic stuff, and somehow they screwed it up.
And I'm not saying they're the first team to ever
have you know, ten men on the field, but I
think in that situation is really glaring the first player
(16:37):
of the possession right out of a timeout, there's really
no excuse for it. So I don't know who ultimately
takes the fall there, but it's it's ultimately on the coaches.
I mean, you got timeouts, call time out, you got
coaches in the in the box, you got coaches on the.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Side, analytics analytics, analytics nerds everywhere, don't you counting with
their encounters?
Speaker 3 (16:59):
But yeah, so yeah, they got coaches coming out of
their airs. Man, there's just no excuse. I mean, come on,
who did they need these plays in practice every day?
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Who would they need to make an example of more
at this point, Ady Mitchell or Xavion Howard.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Well, I mean, you think back to last year after
that Jacksonville game. Do you remember what happened the next day?
You remember the Brian Thomas junior touchdown? Ady Yarder? What
happened the next day? They cut I believe Dallas Flowers
the next day. Now they haven't done that here today.
(17:41):
I was wondering if there would be, you know, that
kind of reaction with Xavion Howard today. I'd tell you
lou Anne Rumo is the best thing that ever happened
to this guy, because he loves Xavian Howard. I don't
know how you can defend it. I'm usually not this
hard on these guys, right, but I've just thought that
there was some There was so much inexcusable stuff that
(18:07):
it's unconscionable, you know. And I don't blame Xavien Howard.
I blame the coaching staff. You put him out there.
It's not his fault he took your money, because of
course he did, right. You guys put him out there
and I mean, oh, my god, so much. They're going
(18:29):
to another extension after that game. I mean, my god.
So listen, here's the thing here. What did we talk
about when they signed Xavien Howard. We said, all right, guys,
got a lot of years on him, and he hasn't
played in a full season. He missed a full season.
This is going to be an experiment, and I don't
(18:50):
know if it's going to work right. I mean, you
and I had that conversation. Anybody with any kind of
understanding would know that that was the question, and it
went exactly how you think it would go. The only
thing saving them is that other teams haven't figured out
that they should target him more. The Dolphins, for whatever reason,
they did it for like one series and then Tua
(19:13):
decided to give him the rest of the day off.
That's on him. And the Broncos figured it out and
they targeted him and that was very successful. And sar
McVay was like, oh, this is like taking candy from
a baby. So Orlovsky was talking about this earlier. You
keep moving him around, cooking the Kua, and they kept
(19:34):
doing that because they were looking for that matchup. They
were beating him like a drum, and they were like,
we're just gonna keep going back to this because you
guys keep giving it to us.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
So I don't know, I did you find they just
stuck Ward on him? It seemed like there were a
couple of times.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
But they put Ward on Devonte Adams.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Well Ward had him had Nikua at least once or
twice out there, did he not?
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Yeah it did. It did happen just I guess by
virtue of motion and that kind of thing. A couple
of times, but the overwhelming majority of the time Ward
was on Adams. And I don't know if that was
just because they were afraid of Adams getting deep. You know,
Nikua he tends to run a lot of those you know,
(20:22):
outs and crossers. Now, he can obviously get big plays
out of those too, but he's not a he's not
a deep threat to the to the extent that like
Adams is. I guess, you know, so that was that's
my understanding. I guess that's that's my interpretation. I guess. Now.
The last thing I'll say with Howard, I mean, they
(20:42):
have they have talked about, you know, that the fact
that they like they like a couple of their young corners,
and I'm thinking, all right, well now Jonathan Edwards being one,
and I'm thinking that might be a good time to
see what you got there. I don't understand. I don't
understand this and Sift since I'm sticking with him, it's
not going to get better. The taper's out there, it
(21:03):
is not going to get better.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah, and uh yeah, we shall see.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
I the whole philosophy of how they utilize Ward, I
think even before the game came into question. But once
you find out what they're doing during the game, how
do you not adjust to it? Would, I think be
the biggest question. Why would you not adjust to it?
(21:30):
Because clearly you got one of well, I mean, why,
here's our best guy against your best guy, And it
was clear I would be a thousand times more worried
about Nicoua than I would about Adams.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
In that game. Yes, he here's the thing. So one
of the few times that that that Howard got matched
up on Adams, he made a play on him too.
So he didn't make plays against Ward, and there was,
you know, an obvious reason for that, because he's he
(22:04):
is as advertised Savarius Ward. He is as advertised and
that was another demonstration of it yesterday. But I hear
you though I hear you there. Their go to guy
is Pukin Nakua, and I think tomorrow when we talked
to lou Anroumo, that is a question worth asking and
we'll have to see what the rationale was there. But ultimately,
(22:28):
I think the big problem here is Xaviing Howard. Even
more so than the fact that they had to deal
with pukin Nakua. The problem is xaviing Howard. It's it's
made worse because you're dealing with, you know, the leading
receiver in the NFL, but they had no shot because
it was Xavian Howard out there. He's struggling, man. I
(22:49):
just I don't know. I don't know what you do
there will they should do, but I don't know if
they're going to do it.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
I will say this, even in closing here in the
way they lost yesterday, which is massively disappointing. You'll give
it up to the month of September, and then you
look around your division and you see Jacksonville one in
San fran Okay, but Houston and Tennessee looks thinking awful
right now, So there's zero reason from what we've witnessed
(23:20):
through the first month of the season, this team should
not be able to win this division.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I'm sorry, there's zero reason with what we have seen.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
So yeah, I realized that I probably should have led
with this. But they're fine. Okay, they're fine. They they
are in great position. Just take care of business, all right.
You got two straight home games, and I would argue
that yesterday, and somebody in the organization made this point
(23:51):
to me, and I do agree. Yesterday's game, I think
in the past couple of years, with that kind of
the way that game unfolded and started to unravel, that
team in recent years would have folded. They didn't fold.
I give them that. They did not fold. That Rams
team is really good. They are good, and they are
(24:13):
going to have to be dealt with in the NFC.
I don't want to gloss over that. That defensive front vicious. Okay,
took JT all day to just get anything going. They
are good. So even you win or lose, I knew
that game was going to be tough. So I don't
(24:33):
feel differently about the Colts today. They are about what
I thought they were, which is pretty good, and they're
just going to have to prove themselves against the elite opponents,
of which I think the RAMS might be one. So
you should feel fine as long as they handle business
moving forward, there's nothing to worry about. But that doesn't
mean that you can you can let some of these
(24:53):
issues we talked about stand.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Either really quick and I have to run, ad Mitchell,
did he say was he showboating or making sure the
ball and everything was?
Speaker 3 (25:05):
What was he doing when I asked him? I asked
him that directly, and he did not really specify. So
I personally thought he was trying to, you know, hold
the ball up and celebrate. That's what it looked like.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
But I yeah, he looked behind and it looked like
that he was getting ready to put the ball up
as hey I'm scoring and yeah yeah. If he ever
just kept it in his left hand, everything would have
been okay. You would think right there, Great, he'd be
a hero today. Always a pleasure, man. I appreciate you
(25:45):
doubling back here. I know it's a busy weekend, busy
day for you, and we'll do it again next week.
See in the press box on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
All right, see you then.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Steven Holder of ESPN ESPN dot coms and the Andy
Moore Automotive Group podlong was the celebration.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Let's looked like it was about ready to be, and
then it wasn't
On the Anymore Automotive Group pipeline with Steven Holder of
ESPN on ESPN dot com. Is uh ad Mitchell's back
to back GAVs. Not back to back, but certainly in
that game, two major GAVs significant enough to have him cut.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
James, it doesn't sound like he's there.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
That was a hell of a lead question right there, though.
There you go, sorry about that. Did you mute yourself?
Speaker 3 (00:26):
No, No, that was me. I was muted.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
You're supposed to blame like I do.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Bleme the producer say hey, James man, bring me up,
but go ahead.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
So I don't think he's getting cut. I don't think
that's been discussed, no indication of that. However, I am
starting to believe that he's getting benched. Well, you certainly
won't see him as much. Just as a matter of fact,
just a little bit ago, spoke to Shane Steichen for
(00:56):
the usual Monday update, and you know, that was obviously
a a big point of emphasis in the conversation was
you know, what do you do with this kid? And
two things? Number one. You know, however, they try to
make it sound like, you know, everybody makes mistakes. It
was a big deal and they know It's a big
deal because Mitchell opened their team meeting today when they
(01:17):
reconvened by apologizing to the entire team and taking accountability
for what happened. So, I mean, I think that speaks
to the level of screw up. What you're talking about here.
You know, that's not something you hear all the time.
So that's the first thing. The other thing is in
talking about it. Shane said that he had a one
(01:38):
on one conversation or a meeting with Mitchell today and
he said the one thing he made clear to him
is that he is going to have to earn it
moving forward. And he said that repeatedly. I'm reading between
the lines here, but the way he delivered that and
the way he said it and emphasized it, I wondered
if that meant You're gonna have to sit down for
(01:59):
a little bit until we figure out what to do
with you. Frankly, I said that last year when he
was down the stretch really kind of starting to come
apart and was making a lot of mistakes. This was
probably amid the Denver game where he had the big
mistake there, and then there were lots of other plays
where he ran incorrect routes or you know, maybe contributed
(02:21):
to a turnover, like an interception or some such I
was saying it then, like you just got to sit
this kid down until he figures it out. And I
thought he was turning a corner. I think I told
that to you on this show last week. I thought
he was turning a corner. I thought we were seeing
what we were promised, or beginning to see more of it,
(02:42):
at least with a d Mitchell. And whatever progress he
may have made, it's all gone now he is erased,
all of it, all of the goodwill, all of the
sentiment is all gone.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
I think after yesterday Stephen Holden vs ESPN dot com
or the Andy Morot deomoutive group potline, now, well, a
lot of this not you know, I'm assuming you're kind
of alluding to the fact that you think that he
may not be active healthy deactivation coming up Sunday.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
We'll get to that in a second.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
But will a lot of this be taken care of
anyway if you get a healthy Alec Pierce back this week?
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Sure, for sure, that's why he was out there so
much yesterday. I think that was his season high, him
being Mitchell. That was I think easily his season high
and a number of snaps that he played, and it's
because it was necessary. So I mean, shame was asked
well after he made that big screw up, did you
(03:44):
think about putting him on the bench even at that point,
And what Stichen said is that no, we we couldn't
because we needed him. We were down a very important
player and we need him. So he played out the
rest of the game. I think he might have even
had another catch later on. So they felt like there
wasn't really the opportunity to do that in that game.
(04:05):
But I mean, if Alex Pearis is okay, I have
no idea, but he's supposed to be have been making
progress with the concussion late last week. So if that's
the case, then you would think he's got a good
shot to come back this coming Sunday. It would take
care of it, there's no question. But they were looking
for ways to get to get ad Mitchell involved because
(04:27):
he is talented. Even with Pierce out there, they have
been looking for ways and I think you can go
back to the first few games and see, I mean,
he played and he was getting i think increasingly getting
more opportunities. So that was a choice. Okay, that was
a choice the Colts made because they didn't have to
play him. They have three solid guys and Tyler Warren,
(04:49):
so they were actively trying to get him involved and
he has failed them now and I got to anticipate
those efforts will come to an end for the most part.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
So you think that he's going to be inactive Sunday,
I just think.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I just think you have to pull back. You have
to pull back. And I think shame was saying it
in not so many words when he says you're gonna
have to earn it. I think that means at least
in the short term, like you're gonna have to go
think about this, you know, when you put your kids
in time out, like he needs to be in time out.
I mean at minimum. And listen, the thing we're not
(05:27):
we're not talking enough about is probably that holding call.
And I know he's got he's got killed for that too,
but I want to emphasize something here and this is
important on that holding call. And I have a clip
of it on my Twitter and so feel free if
you if you follow me, to go look at the video,
the All twenty two video. Here's why it's important. The
(05:51):
technique he uses on that block is so unbelievably poor
and so ridiculous. It is not taught on any level
of football. I don't know who taught him to block
like that.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
And it's just he looked pissed, and he looked pissed.
I mean, and to me, I mentioned this Stephen a
little bit earlier. And obviously the play that cost you
seven then the play they cost you fourteen. But prior
to the hold, he looked like a guy that you
(06:24):
could tell. CBS kept the camera on him, kept showing
him and going back to it.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
He looked like a guy that should not have been
on the field.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Well, you know he talked about losing focus when he
dropped the ball crossing the goal line. Well if you
thought he lacked focused, then he really lacked focus after that. Right,
he's slamming his helmet And look, some guys can make
a mistake and be pissed and have a moment like
that and pull themselves together and go back out there
and it maybe drives them to go finish strong. And look,
(06:59):
I'm not a I'm not a therapist or anything. I
don't know. I'm not psychoanalyzed. Aby Mitchell, nor does anybody
want me to do that? But I might need some
of that sometimes. But anyhow, but you do have to wonder,
just like from a maturity perspective, like was he able
to handle that moment, you know, and go play in
(07:22):
a really tight game against a really good opponent where
there was no margin for error? And so I don't know.
I mean, I think it's a fair question, and based
on the way he finished the game, I think, you know,
it's justified in being asked.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
That moment where he dropped the football. That's his career.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
It's his career in a nutshell, really, because you saw
both sides of it. You saw both, I mean really
both the good and the bad of what everybody believes
he represents in level of talent on this football team.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
You know, think about it. You know, we have talked
about Anthony Richardson at nauseum right over the past year
and his ups and downs and all that. Right, I
would argue, and I'm not comparing their roles because the
starting quarterback is a completely different deal than the number
three or four wide receiver. They're not the same, They're
(08:17):
not even on the same planet. Right, But just think
about it. In terms of how we view the two players.
Anthony Richardson has had infinitely more contributions to this team
winning games than Ady Mitchell ever has. He's never helped
them win a game. No, okay, I mean he certainly
(08:37):
has made a few plays. I don't want to overlook that.
But in the grand scheme, I said this yesterday watching
it live, it dawned on me his net contribution to
the Indianapolis Coast is a huge negative. Over the course
of his year and four games. At this point, he
is in the red so far that I don't even
know how he gets out of it. It would take him forever.
(08:59):
That's how many negat the plays he has had, you
know what I'm saying. So even if you're the biggest
Anthony Richardson hater, right, you can still say, all right,
he put together some game winning drives. He made display
that play, and that guy got benched, and they would
have got a guy and paid him fourteen millions to
fourteen millions to replace him. So and he had some contributions,
(09:20):
this guy has done nothing in the grand scheme. So
I cannot I cannot justify You cannot justify putting him
out there. You absolutely cannot and if you do it
and he fails you again, then you're the idiot.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Well, I would suggest this, how do you have the
best player on the team do that less than a
year ago in Denver which ultimately costs you a playoff spot, clearly,
and then have that happen again and basically what less
than five six or so games you know, different season.
But certainly, where's the Who's not getting the message? I mean,
(10:00):
is it just him? Is it just that's who you're
dealing with right there? How's that message not? Because people
have said you got to make it a point in
cutting him, and I'm thinking, how do you not recognize
what you have? By now, everybody should score touchdown and
run the ball over to the official and run off
the field.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
By now, you would think.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
It should be muscle memory. By now, There's no question
about it. I would say this. I have been around
this game for two decades the NFL, and I can
think of two or three instances where I've seen this happen.
And I have now seen it happen twice in the
span of like eight games. That's incredible, And the first
(10:45):
time I'm not saying I'm not excusing what Johnson Taylor did,
and Jonathan Taylor has never tried to make an excuse
for it, right, But I am saying that the first
time it happened, it was such a big deal and
he was so widely ridiculed for it. I mean, he
was mocked for that on national TV. And I ain't
going to defend it either. That's on you, man. But
(11:08):
after seeing all of that, you're telling me it had
no impression on you. I think that tells us a
lot about ad Mitchell. Man. I hate this. I feel
like we're beating up on this kid, but the same
college football buddy. It's just not sorry, and he's gonna
have to wear this, and he will wear it for
a very long time. And this is gonna be you know,
(11:31):
just as that that tap out was defining for Anthony Richardson,
this is going to define ad Mitchell, telling you until
until he makes a hell of a lot of plays
to over to overrule what he has done or overshadow
what he has done. This is going to define him.
And that's just that's just gonna be his his That's
(11:52):
just gonna be what he has to deal with from
now on.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
I think that means that a certain afternoon sports talk
show host needs to swoop in like he in support
of Miles Turner and support Ady Mitchell.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
I think that's going to be me.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Now.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
I completely understand It's it really in the grand scheme
of things. It's not like it is the deal happened
yesterday and that led directly, I think unlike an individual
can in such a team oriented sport. That certainly is
a non quarterback that can lead a team to a loss.
(12:31):
That's exactly what he did. I mean, when you go
minus fourteen like that, you can have the finger pointed
at you. That's that's certainly where you where you are
with this? Are you surprised that they haven't made some
sort of I guess in this case, decision to say,
all right, this is how this can't be here if there,
(12:53):
if they are as serious about it as you suggest,
are you surprised they just don't wash their hands of
the situation right now now? Or is it a numbers game?
Is it still thinking about the talent a second round pick?
Where are we with that in mind?
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Well, second round pick for sure, right which I understand,
and I think the reality is he is very talented.
Ady Mitchell is easily, okay, easily the most talented wide
receiver on this team. And yet here we are having
this conversation. He is just, you know, an enigma. Okay,
(13:34):
He's one of the biggest enigmas I have ever seen
in all my years. I don't know what to make
of this guy. You know, one guy who I know
that Chris Valley was really frustrated with when he got
here was TJ. Green. You remember TJ Green, the safety
we all remember.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
I'm sure you remember, yeah, And they have a lot
of parallels in fact, right, they were both drafted pretty
early off the charts athletically, I mean, just superhuman athletically.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
TJ. Green just he just didn't know how to play football. Okay,
he just didn't know. He just did not understand how
to play football. And and Ady Mitchell, he's just so
often even if you watch him play, doesn't he looks
at times like sort of out of control. He never
(14:25):
looks like he's under control. He's like a wild mustang
out there, right, he just watch him running around, you know,
his form everything.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
It's like, we're definitely having a conversation about Adie Mitchell
that we would have been having after a week two
loss in that fashion of Shane.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Steichen, Are we not? Because we'd have had a we'd
had a conversation just like.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
That had they lost that game against Denver, and I
guess the other conversation we should have.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
So where's the finger pointing going on.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
With why on a play where too too at Well
ran all the way to Elsa Gundo a touchdown in
the game win or there are only ten dudes on
the field, So.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
That ultimately is a coaching failure period in the story. Now, certainly,
whatever eleventh player was supposed to be out there, I'm
pretty sure it was a defensive back. I'm not going
to speculate on which one, but just based on coverage
they were playing, they were missing a defensive back from
what I could see, and so anyhow, maybe a linebacker.
(15:29):
But but I think I think a I think it
was a dying package. So anyhow, that's a coaching failure.
I asked Shane, just now, what is the flow of information,
the flow of communication? How does that work? I mean,
the way this goes is the defensive coordinator says, okay,
we're running X on this play, whatever coverage they're running,
(15:51):
and within that, the players who are in that particular package.
You know, they got to get out there, and that
is also communicated by their position coaches as well, so
it trickles down coordinator, position coaches, players. But you should
all be right right there next to your position coach
getting the information relayed to you, because the coaches are
(16:16):
wearing headsets and all talking to each other and boom.
I mean, this is this happens on every single play
of every single NFL game every week, right. This is
pretty routtine, basic stuff, and somehow they screwed it up.
And I'm not saying they're the first team to ever
have you know, ten men on the field, but I
think in that situation is really glaring the first player
(16:37):
of the possession right out of a timeout, there's really
no excuse for it. So I don't know who ultimately
takes the fall there, but it's it's ultimately on the coaches.
I mean, you got timeouts, call time out, you got
coaches in the in the box, you got coaches on the.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Side, analytics analytics, analytics nerds everywhere, don't you counting with
their encounters?
Speaker 3 (16:59):
But yeah, so yeah, they got coaches coming out of
their airs. Man, there's just no excuse. I mean, come on,
who did they need these plays in practice every day?
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Who would they need to make an example of more
at this point, Ady Mitchell or Xavion Howard.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Well, I mean, you think back to last year after
that Jacksonville game. Do you remember what happened the next day?
You remember the Brian Thomas junior touchdown? Ady Yarder? What
happened the next day? They cut I believe Dallas Flowers
the next day. Now they haven't done that here today.
(17:41):
I was wondering if there would be, you know, that
kind of reaction with Xavion Howard today. I'd tell you
lou Anne Rumo is the best thing that ever happened
to this guy, because he loves Xavian Howard. I don't
know how you can defend it. I'm usually not this
hard on these guys, right, but I've just thought that
there was some There was so much inexcusable stuff that
(18:07):
it's unconscionable, you know. And I don't blame Xavien Howard.
I blame the coaching staff. You put him out there.
It's not his fault he took your money, because of
course he did, right. You guys put him out there
and I mean, oh, my god, so much. They're going
(18:29):
to another extension after that game. I mean, my god.
So listen, here's the thing here. What did we talk
about when they signed Xavien Howard. We said, all right, guys,
got a lot of years on him, and he hasn't
played in a full season. He missed a full season.
This is going to be an experiment, and I don't
(18:50):
know if it's going to work right. I mean, you
and I had that conversation. Anybody with any kind of
understanding would know that that was the question, and it
went exactly how you think it would go. The only
thing saving them is that other teams haven't figured out
that they should target him more. The Dolphins, for whatever reason,
they did it for like one series and then Tua
(19:13):
decided to give him the rest of the day off.
That's on him. And the Broncos figured it out and
they targeted him and that was very successful. And sar
McVay was like, oh, this is like taking candy from
a baby. So Orlovsky was talking about this earlier. You
keep moving him around, cooking the Kua, and they kept
(19:34):
doing that because they were looking for that matchup. They
were beating him like a drum, and they were like,
we're just gonna keep going back to this because you
guys keep giving it to us.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
So I don't know, I did you find they just
stuck Ward on him? It seemed like there were a
couple of times.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
But they put Ward on Devonte Adams.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Well Ward had him had Nikua at least once or
twice out there, did he not?
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Yeah it did. It did happen just I guess by
virtue of motion and that kind of thing. A couple
of times, but the overwhelming majority of the time Ward
was on Adams. And I don't know if that was
just because they were afraid of Adams getting deep. You know,
Nikua he tends to run a lot of those you know,
(20:22):
outs and crossers. Now, he can obviously get big plays
out of those too, but he's not a he's not
a deep threat to the to the extent that like
Adams is. I guess, you know, so that was that's
my understanding. I guess that's that's my interpretation. I guess. Now.
The last thing I'll say with Howard, I mean, they
(20:42):
have they have talked about, you know, that the fact
that they like they like a couple of their young corners,
and I'm thinking, all right, well now Jonathan Edwards being one,
and I'm thinking that might be a good time to
see what you got there. I don't understand. I don't
understand this and Sift since I'm sticking with him, it's
not going to get better. The taper's out there, it
(21:03):
is not going to get better.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah, and uh yeah, we shall see.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
I the whole philosophy of how they utilize Ward, I
think even before the game came into question. But once
you find out what they're doing during the game, how
do you not adjust to it? Would, I think be
the biggest question. Why would you not adjust to it?
(21:30):
Because clearly you got one of well, I mean, why,
here's our best guy against your best guy, And it
was clear I would be a thousand times more worried
about Nicoua than I would about Adams.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
In that game. Yes, he here's the thing. So one
of the few times that that that Howard got matched
up on Adams, he made a play on him too.
So he didn't make plays against Ward, and there was,
you know, an obvious reason for that, because he's he
(22:04):
is as advertised Savarius Ward. He is as advertised and
that was another demonstration of it yesterday. But I hear
you though I hear you there. Their go to guy
is Pukin Nakua, and I think tomorrow when we talked
to lou Anroumo, that is a question worth asking and
we'll have to see what the rationale was there. But ultimately,
(22:28):
I think the big problem here is Xaviing Howard. Even
more so than the fact that they had to deal
with pukin Nakua. The problem is xaviing Howard. It's it's
made worse because you're dealing with, you know, the leading
receiver in the NFL, but they had no shot because
it was Xavian Howard out there. He's struggling, man. I
(22:49):
just I don't know. I don't know what you do
there will they should do, but I don't know if
they're going to do it.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
I will say this, even in closing here in the
way they lost yesterday, which is massively disappointing. You'll give
it up to the month of September, and then you
look around your division and you see Jacksonville one in
San fran Okay, but Houston and Tennessee looks thinking awful
right now, So there's zero reason from what we've witnessed
(23:20):
through the first month of the season, this team should
not be able to win this division.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I'm sorry, there's zero reason with what we have seen.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
So yeah, I realized that I probably should have led
with this. But they're fine. Okay, they're fine. They they
are in great position. Just take care of business, all right.
You got two straight home games, and I would argue
that yesterday, and somebody in the organization made this point
(23:51):
to me, and I do agree. Yesterday's game, I think
in the past couple of years, with that kind of
the way that game unfolded and started to unravel, that
team in recent years would have folded. They didn't fold.
I give them that. They did not fold. That Rams
team is really good. They are good, and they are
(24:13):
going to have to be dealt with in the NFC.
I don't want to gloss over that. That defensive front vicious. Okay,
took JT all day to just get anything going. They
are good. So even you win or lose, I knew
that game was going to be tough. So I don't
(24:33):
feel differently about the Colts today. They are about what
I thought they were, which is pretty good, and they're
just going to have to prove themselves against the elite opponents,
of which I think the RAMS might be one. So
you should feel fine as long as they handle business
moving forward, there's nothing to worry about. But that doesn't
mean that you can you can let some of these
(24:53):
issues we talked about stand.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Either really quick and I have to run, ad Mitchell,
did he say was he showboating or making sure the
ball and everything was?
Speaker 3 (25:05):
What was he doing when I asked him? I asked
him that directly, and he did not really specify. So
I personally thought he was trying to, you know, hold
the ball up and celebrate. That's what it looked like.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
But I yeah, he looked behind and it looked like
that he was getting ready to put the ball up
as hey I'm scoring and yeah yeah. If he ever
just kept it in his left hand, everything would have
been okay. You would think right there, Great, he'd be
a hero today. Always a pleasure, man. I appreciate you
(25:45):
doubling back here. I know it's a busy weekend, busy
day for you, and we'll do it again next week.
See in the press box on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
All right, see you then.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Steven Holder of ESPN ESPN dot coms and the Andy
Moore Automotive Group podlong was the celebration.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Let's looked like it was about ready to be, and
then it wasn't
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