Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams feels “frustrated and angry” with how the season is going so far. How long until he doubts Carr’s ability?
Davante Adams may have “surprised” Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay with his decision to leave the Packers, but Adams eventually clarified the reasons he was pulled to the Las Vegas Raiders.
He grew up an Oakland Raiders fan. Las Vegas made him closer to his California family. Plus, Adams was looking forward to reuniting with his longtime friend and college teammate, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.
Adams went to bat for Carr over the offseason, saying that both Rodgers and Carr were both “Hall of Famer” quarterbacks. Many disagree with Adams, but Adams continued to stand behind his quarterback and friend, taking a page out of Tyreek Hill’s book about playing up what his new quarterback can accomplish.
Now, with the team opening the season 0-3, Adams was asked if he was more frustrated or angry with the outcome. Here is his full response, via SI’s Hondo S. Carpenter:
"“Both. Frustrated and angry. Expect more. It’s not easy to win in this league. We know that. Nobody’s naive to the fact that nobody’s just going to lay down and just give you a victory, but at the end of the day we expect more and we will do better as we move forward.”"
NFL media has turned Adams’ “frustrated and angry” comment into a significant headline, although the rest of Adams’ comments were heavily team-oriented and focused on executing plays better, limiting the margin of error in games the Raiders could have won handily. Adams even elaborated further on his frustration, explaining why it’s okay to feel that way when he wants his team to excel:
"“Frustration is OK. It’s not the end of the world to be frustrated. I don’t think anybody in here should be happy or content with losing seriously, when you have the type of men we have in this locker room. And like I said from the very beginning, just because we’re good on paper doesn’t mean we’re going to be great as a team. We’re still working toward that, and it’s still early. But we’ve got to start establishing who we are as a team. So, like I said, frustration is OK as long as you do something about it.”"
Even if Adams isn’t pointing fingers at Carr, one NFL reporter is floating the idea that the Raiders front office may be looking at other options at quarterback.
The question is, will Raiders losses test Adams’ loyalty to Carr? And if it’s not Adams looking to push out Carr, who in the organization could be looking to switch things up?
Will Raiders losses test Davante Adams’ loyalty to Derek Carr?
Based on what Adams has said thus far, it seems that he believes the team’s struggles are par for the course. Even if it’s not something Davante is used to — he went from a Green Bay locker room with limited change to an entirely different environment in Las Vegas — he knows how the NFL works, and how NFL seasons work. It takes time for a team to build chemistry, something he built with Aaron Rodgers over several years. No, Adams isn’t who he was in Green Bay, as he’s not the primary offensive weapon in Las Vegas. But it doesn’t seem like he expected to be, nor is he upset with spreading the ball around.
While Adams very well could start glancing around at his teammates, that’s not the road the Raiders locker room leader is taking.
But Adams isn’t the only major offensive overhaul the Raiders have undertaken this season. Josh McDaniels has taken over at head coach, and based on these stories from former Denver Bronco Tyler Polumbus, McDaniels doesn’t have an outstanding track record when it comes to relating to players.
https://twitter.com/Tyler_Polumbus/status/1575514799936454658?s=20&t=itsCmGmfo360F1pzV7kVLA
It’s been a decade since then, and McDaniels has stood by his players thus far, even responding to claims about why the chemistry between Carr and Adams has resulted in precious few connections through three games. Carr himself has opened up about it as well.
McDaniels doesn’t want his offense to become predictable, even with an elite receiver like Adams, who was able to shrug off double coverage in Green Bay.
So far, it’s been a tough year from the outside looking in, but there are no visible tensions yet from any Raiders players or coaches. The Raiders can pull through, the way McDaniels and Adams believe they will, or onlookers will continue to question and blame Carr. However it shakes out, it seems it would take quite a bit for Adams to turn against his longtime friend.