Adonai Mitchell (finger) questionable after 2 LPs

Mitchell popped up as a limited participant on Thursday’s injury report, and while we don’t have the specifics, Cimini’s report is a bit concerning ahead of Week 3’s game against the Lions. Mitchell popped up for 12 targets in last week’s loss to the Packers and is firmly on the streaming radar against a Lions defense that has struggled out of the gate, but we’ll have to see if he can at least get a questionable tag entering the weekend in order to have any confidence heading into Sunday. Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said Mitchell will be limited in Friday’s practice and that the injury came after his finger got caught in a jersey. We should have a better sense of his availability when the team releases its final injury report later in the day.

Mitchell was a surprise add to the report on Thursday after practicing in full on Wednesday. It’s a concerning one for the Jets, who figured to build a lot of the passing game around Mitchell, and who have just four healthy wideouts on the roster. We’ll see how this pans out on Friday, but his status is certainly in at least a little jeopardy.

Mitchell led the Jets in targets while playing 61 of the team’s 74 snaps and running a route on 41 of their 50 dropbacks. Mitchell was also targeted on a deep ball that led to a defensive pass interference call and would have had another 40+ yard completion if it weren’t for a truly impressive play by the Green Bay defensive back. The Jets are getting no push from their offensive line, so the team will likely need to take to the air to use the ball. That figures to be good news for Mitchell, especially next week against a banged-up Lions secondary.

Picking up where he left off for the Jets last season, only this time with hopefully better quarterback and line play, Mitchell caught a 40-yard pass in the third quarter to set the Jets up in the red zone. His receiving slash wasn’t bad considering the fact Geno Smith dropped back only 24 times in a game the Jets controlled start to finish. They didn’t need to open the offense up, and they very much did not. That should change for Week 2 against the Packers, where Mitchell can be fired up as a boom/bust WR4.

Cooper played extensively in the Jets’ first preseason game, prompting The Athletic’s Zach Rosenblatt to write that WR Isaiah Williams appeared to have overtaken Cooper for the starting slot receiver job. This week, Cooper out-snapped WR Isaiah Williams six to one on the first drive. Williams continued playing on the second drive before rotating with Cooper on the third. PFF’s Nathan Jahnke notes that when Cooper returned, he lined up out wide while Williams manned the slot. Williams caught 3-of-5 targets for 17 yards and one fumble, though it was recovered by the Jets. It appears as though Cooper may have regained his spot as the Jets’ WR3 behind WR1 Garrett Wilson and WR2 Adonai Mitchell. Cooper still makes for a risky late-round dart throw, but he will get more chances to contribute.

Mitchell was a headcase in Indianapolis but got with the program after being traded to New York last year. He closed the season with 301 yards in eight games as a Jet. The team heaped praise on Mitchell throughout the offseason and he has seemingly ridden that momentum into camp. Mitchell’s spike games will be hard to pin down, but he should at least provide Best Ball drafters with some usable weeks.

Per Cimini, Jets coaches thought Mitchell would take a leap this offseason, but he managed to exceed their expectations. Mitchell has reportedly “displayed a firm grasp of the new system,” while showing off his vertical speed and building chemistry with QB Geno Smith. Mental gaffes have been Mitchell’s biggest developmental issue. If he really has figured out that aspect of the game, Mitchell should return usable, if volatile FLEX numbers this season.

Rosenblatt said in early June that Mitchell would have a shot to become a “crucial piece” of the team’s offense. Mitchel highlights have poured out of Jets OTAs over the past couple weeks as the third-year wideout looks to carve out a role in the New York passing offense. Mitchell over eight games with the Jets in 2025 had 301 yards and two touchdowns as the team’s WR2. He was an air yards dominator from Week 11-18 with the Jets; only Michael Wilson had more air yards than Mitchell over that span. “I just want to be in a room that he’s in because he’s going to light up the room,” Jets OC Frank Reich said, adding that Mitchell can “complement” Garrett Wilson. “First of all, just with his mentality, he’s got this winning mentality, this positive vibe about him, and I think we all feel that on the field.” With enough confidence from Geno, Mitchell could be an exciting if volatile fantasy option in 2026.

This comes almost a month after Rosenblatt said he believed Mitchell felt “pretty locked into the No. 2 receiver role.” The 23-year-old receiver spent part of last season with the Jets after being traded from the Colts at last year’s deadline. Mitchell saw 58 targets come his way in eight games with the Jets last season and posted a 24-301-2 line while going for 50-plus yards in two of those games. The upgrade from Brady Cook to Geno Smith should work wonders for Mitchell as far as target quality is concerned, and he’s reportedly shown good chemistry with Smith during OTAs. Currently going as a late-round draft pick in best ball leagues, Mitchell has the chance to be a nice value in deeper fantasy leagues if he can earn a meaningful role opposite Garrett Wilson.

Omar Cooper Jr. is primarily a slot player, and the Jets didn’t bring in real competition at outside receiver for Mitchell. That doesn’t necessarily mean big things are afoot for Mitchell’s fantasy value — between Cooper and Kenyon Sadiq, there would appear to be more mouths to feed in an offense that starved many last year — but it does mean he should at least see the majority of the snaps this year.