Several Washington Mystics are in the midst of their return to play from notable injuries. Each is at a varying level of on-court confidence and rhythm as they continue the weeks-long process to get back up to full speed.

But Ariel Atkins isn’t like most other athletes; that’s how she became the franchise’s leading 3-point scorer. The Mystics’ shooting guard’s acclimation period is much shorter than the rest.

She’s only played three games but is seeing her minutes – and her production – rise game over game. Her first time back, Atkins played just 14 minutes against the Indiana Fever. A second game removed and just three days in-between she’s already back up to 20 minutes – which is less than seven minutes away from her season average.

Despite coming off a 2-for-11 performance against the Connecticut Sun, her confidence and “goldfish mentality” as she calls it has her fitting right back into the flow of the offense.

Her teammates credit not only Atkins’s ability to always be ready but also for knowing her role in how to be impactful.

‘[Ariel] is naturally just steady,” Natasha Cloud said on Sunday. “She doesn’t try to do too much. She knows who she is. She knows her go-to spots so it’s very easy for her to come back and just because she doesn’t do too much. She understands where her body’s at, she understands how she can push it but this is who she is. She’s just getting her feel back in the offense… It’s just really good to have her back in the lineup, have another defensive disrupter, another scoring option on the offensive end, but I think [Ariel] has been the one that the rust hasn’t had to come off the most.”

Granted, Atkins’s injury (a left ankle sprain) set her up to have less rust as well. An ankle sprain isn’t quite the hip injury Shakira Austin suffered on June 25. It’s also not a second sprain on the same ankle such as Elena Delle Donne’s injury. In less than two weeks, Atkins was back out on the practice court getting up shots.

But even with all that, Atkins is still forced into a situation where the Mystics need to get back up to speed in a short period of time.

That trio of injured players had been out for over 10 games, which is over a quarter of the season. Not only does Atkins need to get back to her pre-injury production for the playoffs, but her ability is needed just to get the team into the postseason.

“Yeah, I feel good about [my recovery],” Atkins told NBC Sports Washington. “I think our athletic training staff and our strength and conditioning staff did a really good job of preparing me to come back and to kind of do it a little bit, a little bit by little bit of increments. But I feel good about it. Obviously, I want to be as good as I possibly can right at the end of regular season. So just keep working at it. Continue to get better, and give ourselves a good to push to try to get in a better spot for playoffs.”

While Atkins is making it look easy, jumping back into the fray did come with its own challenges. There were no conditioning issues, as is common for players who miss a significant amount of time, nor was there an issue of her trying to do too much.

Getting past the mental barrier of not looking at her feet while she’s playing will be key for Atkins. She’s also getting used to playing just two minutes at a time, a frustration for her and coach Eric Thibault. Throughout her return-to-play process, there is a minute restriction to work through (which is undisclosed by the team).

“Um, it’s definitely new for me,” Atkins said of playing two-minute stretches at a time. “I’m trying not to look at the clock. I’m not trying to count the numbers, but I mean, it is what it is. It’s not like I can just be like, ‘Nah I’m not coming out,’ you know, and it’s for my benefit and they’re not doing it to punish me or anything, it’s necessary.”

But the biggest thing for the two-time All-Star is getting back into the fire with the group when they need it most. In her absence, the Mystics went 3-8 and tumbled down the standings to seventh place.

Now Atkins isn’t on the sideline anymore and is able to “be a teammate again.” Instead of being a reason why the team is facing an increasingly high level of adversity, she’s back trying to overcome it.

“I mean, it’s different when you’re in the fire,” she said. “Like you can say as much as you want on the sideline, but as a basketball player, it’s a hard thing to just kind of be out of it. There’s only so much I can say on the sidelines, there are only so many people I can reach or help or there’s only so many things that people can come to me and be like, ‘Yo like you got this’ like it feels different when you’re in the fire with your teammates.”