Las Vegas Raiders Davante Adams on the Silver & Black
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HENERSON, Nev.-The Las Vegas Raiders have started the 2022 NFL season a disappointing 0-3, and they don't have time to feel sorry for themselves.
Davante Adams spoke just outside the locker room about the state of the Silver and Black and looked ahead to the Denver Broncos this weekend.
You can watch the entire interview below, and read the transcript:
Wide Receiver Davante Adams
Q: What can you tell me about Mack Hollins - the person that he is off the field, in the locker room, what he brings as far as his whole persona?
Adams: "He has one of the most infectious personalities that I've been around. I was talking to a couple of my other teammates about it, and I was like, 'I don't think I've been around somebody that talks so frequently, but it never gets annoying.' He knows a way to do it. He's the same guy every day, which is something that you've got to appreciate in a teammate. That great energy it's in the huddle - and it's not always joking around, sometimes it's serious, not often but sometimes it's serious. He’s a funny dude, great personality, and he's going to keep you up. If you mess something up, he might get on you kind of jokingly about it as a way to soften the blow a little bit and just address the elephant in the room. He's got a way with people and he's definitely a joy to have on the team."
Q: After the Titans game you mentioned that it's okay to be frustrated, but you've got to do something about it. What goes into that process of translating emotion into action?
Adams: "First, the way you attack practice the next week. This was one of our best practices as far as attention to detail, everybody being locked in on every minuscule part of what we're doing on offense, defense, both sides of the ball, special teams, the kicking game. Everything looked really sharp today. When you come in and you're attentive and you acknowledge some of the things that you did negatively that impacted the game in a bad way, you've got to come back and make those changes, and I saw that type of turn was made today."
Q: I know you were a basketball player and a fan of the NBA. When you take a big scorer and put him on a team with another big scorer, there's going to be a bit of an adjustment I would imagine. For you coming here with other guys that had big numbers there's going to be an adjustment. There's been some talk out there that Derek Carr might be not throwing to you purposely in order to make sure other people are involved. Do you sense any of that or is that just speculation? Or is it looking at team being 0-3 and trying to find reasons?
Adams: "It's that. People always got to break something down. At the end of the day, we're losing these games by a small margin. We win those games, they're not talking about that, they don't care. All the Green Bay people will definitely still be on that, trying to compare the stats and all that, but we're not doing this thing for stats at the end of the day. I don't think anybody is tripping about that. Just to hit on what you just said again - it has nothing to do with having too many guys that have had success or whatever it is. It's simply an adjustment to plan - for lack of better words - with me. It's a different type of coverage you're going to get. Nobody gets played like how I get played in the National Football League. So it's going to be a lot different as far as - because when you watch tape, you look at what teams do and that's the whole purpose of watching tape is to see tendencies and what everybody's doing, and then when you play against me, it's not going to be a whole lot of times where they’re just going to go one high man and single up the corner. In perfect world we would love that, that's what teams usually want to go to to be able to get to some of their exotics and the way that they like to blitz and all that stuff. But it's going to be different because in the past when that happens, we found a way to find the one-on-one matchup. It's going to be a lot more cloud and double teams and different things like that with a lot more attention to me, and I think we're trying to find the best way to attack that and still be able to be productive in the pass game as well, myself and for everybody else too. So, a little bit of an adjustment, but whatever everybody else is talking about has nothing to do with what's actually going on."
Q: How do you fight through that (double coverage) knowing that that's what you're going to face time after time again?
Adams: "It's nothing new. I've been getting played like this for the past three, four years now. Definitely over the past three it's been all the same things. You've just got to adjust, and like we talked about before, it's so early in the season to where a lot of the adjustments that people are making, it's just not as loud as this because nobody else has to deal with the way we do. It was the same when I was on the Packers and then we had to find different ways. Obviously, we played professional ball together - Aaron [Rodgers] and I - longer than what me and Derek have, so it kind of was a little bit more gradual than what this was - we jumped straight into the fire, had a few one-on-one opportunities in the first week and got 17 targets, so now people are changing it up obviously and we've got to change some stuff up too."
Q: Like you said, it's not new to you to be double teamed. In the past , what has helped you to stay effective?
Adams: "Just 'labbing' up in-game adjustments, finding out what's the best routes to run, the best way to still be able to be a part of the game. The good part is that I got a great group of guys that I work with from the quarterbacks to the coaches that are really open and receptive to different types of things that I see, and they know that I've dealt with it for a while, so they'll trust my word on it. So just being able to adjust on the fly, because the way that the Titans played may not be the same thing that the Broncos are going to do. I'm sure there will be some similar ways to try to take me away, but the ways that they'll do it will be different. So, the in-game adjustment will be different."
Q: You guys obviously have the skill to be a good red zone team - it hasn't translated yet. What are the reasons for that, and how can that improve?
Adams: "Just execution. And like I said, just being able to adjust in game and find out what's the best way, and best plays to get to give us the best chance at having success."
Q: On Sunday, you guys had kind of a couple of tricks plays, one of which gave you a carry. Is that kind of something you want to put an emphasis on? Like it just doesn't have to be as a pass catcher, I just need to get the ball in my hands and be a playmaker?
Adams: "Yeah, I mean however it can happen. It's on him [Josh McDaniels] to scheme that up, that's the coach's job. But I'm going to do the best that I can with what I'm given. And I wouldn't call that a trick play, the one in the game. Obviously, it wasn't a successful play, but there's different ways and if we get that guy blocked and now I'm on the corner and it's a whole different story. So, I'm down to do whatever is going to be able to help us put the best product together on film."
Q: When you look at Denver, their bread and butter is their defense. With defensive-minded teams, does it make it easier because you're seeing everything up front where maybe a complex team you never know where they're going to attack? Here you're just focusing on what they do on defense as an offensive specialists and you can prepare better for that?
Adams: I mean, sure kind of. At the end of the day when you have a really good defense like that, it's never going to be easy. They've got a lot of people that have played for a long time, and they've got some guys that are impact players on the defense that haven't played very long but have still come in and made a name for themselves. They really don't have a weakness on defense, which is something that helps them. Even though we do know they're a defensive-minded team, we've still got to go out there and try to make plays. So I wouldn't call it easier, but I mean it narrows our focus on offense down for sure."
The Las Vegas Raiders return to action next Sunday, as they play host at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to their AFC rivals the Denver Broncos. That game kicks off at 4:25 PM PDT and can be seen on CBS.
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