For the last several weeks now, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman has been dealing with a lingering back injury.
Both Pittman and the team have said the injury is very much week-to-week and his availability is dependent upon how he feels each day, potentially impacting when Pittman practices and whether or not he’s a full or limited participant.
“At this point, everybody’s fighting through some type of thing, so it’s not like I’m doing anything that’s special, but we’re just taking it week to week and then just seeing where it goes,” said Pittman before the Buffalo game.
Pittman would add that each week consists of a lot of rehab, but the overall gameplan on a weekly basis changes depending on how he’s feeling and what’s needed on that specific day.
Last week, in the Colts’ Week 10 matchup against the Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis was without Pittman, who didn’t practice at all that week. So what about this week as the Colts travel to New York to take on the Jets–will Pittman be available?
Michael Pittman injury update
Pittman returned to practice this week leading up to the team’s Week 11 matchup with the Jets. Not only was he out there all three days but he was a full participant in each practice as well. Pittman did not have any injury designation on Friday’s final report, meaning that he will be a full-go for this game.
Indianapolis Colts WR depth chart
Of course, getting Pittman back is a big development for the Colts’ offense, especially when going up against a talented Jets’ secondary, featuring Sauce Gardner and DJ Reed.
On the season, Pittman has caught 30 passes for 366 yards with two scores. However, as I wrote about recently, even with Pittman back on the field, the Colts can’t forget about rookie AD Mitchell either.
After Mitchell averaged just over 12 snaps per game from Weeks 3-9, he stepped into a much larger role with Pittman out against Buffalo and had a career day. Now, the expectation shouldn’t be that Mitchell is going to out-snap Pittman or Josh Downs or Alec Pierce–and it may not be close–but he needs more than 12 snaps per game moving forward.
Given that the Colts do not utilize a ton of four wide receiver sets, getting Mitchell on the field more often may mean fewer snaps for others–ultimately that’s up to Shane Steichen to work through.
As is the case with any young player, Mitchell is still likely to experience ups and downs as he navigates the learning curve that comes with making the jump to the NFL. But what he brings is juice to the passing game with his athleticism and ability as a route runner–and the Colts could use more of that.
