Mitchell still making adjustments this season
BOCA RATON — FAU’s season may be winding down, but that hasn’t stopped John Mitchell from making small improvements to his skillset.
The redshirt junior wide receiver practiced with a pad draped over his chest during the two weeks leading into the Owls’ 40-26 victory against UTSA on Saturday.
The purpose? Prevent Mitchell from bringing the ball to his chest and force him to catch it with outstretched arms.
“I seem to be more comfortable letting [the ball] come to my body, and that is not always a good thing — especially in traffic,” said Mitchell,
who caught three passes for 24 yards against the Roadrunners. “I think it’s a good thing. At first, I didn’t really like it, but [the coaches] mean well.”
It’s an unorthodox method FAU coaches are hoping pays off in the long run — for the remainder of this season and next year. The practice adjustments haven’t been easy for Mitchell, who naturally likes to let the ball come to his body on a reception.
“You’ve really got to think about, you can’t let it come to your chest,” Mitchell said. “It happened to me the first couple times and it just bounced right off.”
Mitchell was aware that he needed to fix the issue and that the
way he caught the ball wasn’t typical of top receivers on the collegiate or professional level.
“Especially because you watch people in the NFL and you don’t see that too often with the best of them,” Mitchell said. “The best of the wide receivers keep it fully extended. I know that’s something I have to work on.
“In practice, you’re gonna have to work on things you’re not really good at. You’re gonna have to fail couple times over and over again. I feel more comfortable letting it come to my body and catching it in practice rather than having to go through that failure, but you’ve gotta go through it at some point.”
Mitchell acknowledges the adjustments have helped him. Still, such a drastic change to how someone plays their position would usually be easier to implement during the offseason. Not during a potential conference championship run, which is where the Owls find themselves now.
“Even then I probably wouldn’t have wanted to go through it, but it’s gotta get done,” Mitchell said about trying to make changes last offseason instead of now. “I don’t think it had too much of an effect on last game. I’ve had better games, but I don’t think it’s making me completely off what I’ve been doing.”
This season, Mitchell has 33 receptions for 448 yards and four touchdowns.
FAU faces a win-and-you’re-in matchup against Southern Miss on Saturday at FAU Stadium. If the Owls take home the victory, they’ll host the Conference USA Championship game on Dec. 7.
Mitchell called the opportunity in front of the Owls a “great feeling”, especially since he was injured during FAU’s title run in 2017.
“We get another chance to do something great,” Mitchell said. “It’s gotta be just another game. Every game has meant as much leading up. If we didn’t win the last game, we wouldn’t be here. We’ve gotta prepare the same way and do what we do how we’ve been doing it.”