Montravius Adams could be ‘really, really good’
Before Montravius Adams could go from potential bubble player to a likely starter following the trade of Mike Daniels, he had to win over his defensive coordinator.
When Mike Pettine joined the Green Bay Packers in January 2018 and started looking at his roster, he was not impressed by the former third-round draft pick.
“If I had to vote somebody or say who’s most improved from a year ago, it would be Montravius,” Pettine said during the first week of training camp. “When I first got here and met him in the spring, my opinion wasn’t real high, and he knows that. It was one where we challenged him and I think (defensive line coach) Jerry Montgomery has done an outstanding job with ‘Mont.’ ‘Mont’ has taken the challenge.”
It might have been disconcerting to not feel the love from your boss, but Adams used it as motivation.
“For me, it was great,” Adams said. “Every player in this room should be competitive or they shouldn’t be here. With him saying that, it was like, ‘I am going to prove to him that I am who I think I am’ and not who anybody else thinks but who I think I am. That’s what I’m here for every day.”
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A strong finish to last season helped change the dynamic between coach and player. Adams then shed almost 20 pounds during the offseason. While he’s listed at 304 pounds, he said he was closer to 295 for the start of training camp.
“I just wanted to be able to run,” Adams said. “Wherever I wanted to go, I wanted to be able to make it and be able to make it efficiently. Be able to play every down that they need me, not just be able to be like one down, two down. Now I feel like with me in here, I can make this play and run down the field, make that play and come back and still play.”
He did it through a combination of diet and exercise. One workout he recalled was a series of 10 200-yard sprints.
“Me and my trainer, we got after it. I wouldn’t say we had a good time,” Adams said with a smile.
From Montgomery’s perspective, it’s all been a part of the maturation process for a player with two sons. With a family counting on him, Adams knew it was time to get serious and maximize his considerable potential.
“He came to camp in shape,” Montgomery said on Friday, a day after the Packers beat Houston in the preseason opener. “Guys start realizing, ‘I’ve got to start doing things the right way. I’ve got to start taking care of my body.’ In college, those guys smash food all the time and then train. Now, it’s, ‘I need to be lean, I need to be able to run, I need to be able to get off blocks. I need to come back in shape so I’m ready to go.’ I want them to come back the way that he left and that was ready to roll, and he did that. He’s starting to take those steps forward on being a pro and learning how to do those things, which is really good for him.”
Adams hasn’t been very good in his first two seasons. A third-round draft pick in 2017, Adams has 1.5 sacks and 31 tackles in 23 career games. After playing only 66 snaps as a rookie – a season derailed by a training camp foot injury that stunted his development – Adams played 212 snaps in 2018. For perspective, undrafted free agent Tyler Lancaster, who spent the first month of the season on the practice squad, played 271 snaps. When Adams was on the field, he was active. He finished the season with 26 tackles, 1.5 sacks and five stuffs (a tackle at or behind the line of scrimmage vs. the run). That led to defensive line-best rates of 8.2 snaps per tackle and 42.4 snaps per stuff for the fastest 300-pounder at the 2017 Scouting Combine.
Adams appears ready to take the next step. Or next several steps. He routinely flashed during the joint practices against Houston, then was active in 34 snaps against the Texans on Thursday.
“He’s becoming a pro, taking care of his business, taking care of his body. It’s the day-to-day things on the field,” Montgomery said. “I thought during the practices, he played very, very, very well – played with great hands, great fundamentals, great technique. People were like, ‘Holy cow, who’s this guy?’ Then he has a play where he may not play with great technique. We’ve got to continue to build on those things each and every day. When he does that, you’re like, ‘Wow, this guy’s really, really good.’”
That’s the goal, Adams said.
“If you’re being honest with yourself, there’s always expectations,” he said. “I feel like my expectations for myself are higher than what the coaches have.”
