Raiders' WR Davante Adams Chiefs Week
The Las Vegas Raiders (6-8) are set to take on the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs (9-5) tomorrow, Christmas Day, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
The Chiefs want to fend off theorizing Silver and Black and their Interim Coach, Antonio Pierce.
The Raiders want to keep their NFL Playoff dreams alive and deliver a body punch to their arch-AFC West rivals. The game is sure to be a slugfest.
Above, you can watch Adam's entire press conference, and you can read the transcript below:
Las Vegas Raiders' WR Davante Adams Kansas City Chiefs week
Darrell Craig Harris, Raiders Today
Wide Receiver Davante Adams
Q: You've got some young cornerbacks that you are going against on a daily basis in Jack Jones, Amik Robertson, Nate Hobbs, and they bring a lot of swagger. Do you feel like they set a tone defensively and that swagger is needed at that position?
Adams: “Definitely. I mean, confidence and swag go hand in hand, and it's something that they definitely bring and they take a lot of pride in. And I think it's something that kind of gets their psyche ready to play, especially at that position. So, I mean, I love it. Like I said, it shows a lot of confidence, it shows that you're into the game, you're in the moment which is something that you got to be at corner. You've got to be locked in and in the moment, and whether good or bad the play before, you got let that go. And I feel like they do a really good job with that too, fighting through adversity and playing together, and then mixing in their own personal swag too."
Q: I know you were on the sideline when Jack Jones made his play, but did you get a chance to kind of look at that to see what a great play that actually was?
Adams: "Yeah, man, that was impressive. That was one of the catches of the year, for sure, from a corner. And taking into account reading it and all that, it's a very impressive play."
Q: After the Vikings game, you talked about how this offense was closer than people think to being really good. And then you had the Chargers game. How important is it to back up what we saw on Thursday night on Christmas?
Adams: "I mean, it's big for us. It's something that we obviously know we're not expecting to have 60 points every time we go out there, but it was more the play style and togetherness that we played with. All three phases going out and dominating, and as Jack Jones said: ‘We were kicking ass.’ When you can go out there and play together like that and everybody does their job and play at a high level, it’s fun. So, hopefully we can continue to do that and keep proving to ourselves that we're that type of team that can go out and be explosive and put up a lot of points. At the end of the day, all you've got to do is have one more than the other team."
Q: Wide receiver Tre Tucker had a breakout game on Thursday. What do you think has been the key to his development throughout the season as a rookie?
Adams: “Just capitalizing on all those opportunities. When you're a player like Tre, which I was in that same spot early in my career and a lot of other guys, Jakobi [Meyers], that what sets you apart is not going out having a 100-yard game every time because it's not likely if you're not the No. 1 guy, and I've only had a couple of them this year. So, it's only so many to go around, but it's about capitalizing on the opportunities that you do get. If it's one, making that catch, and if it's two, or three or four, whatever it is, just continuing to prove your worth to yourself, which ultimately does it to your teammates and your coaches as well.”
Q: When you've got a guy like Tre with that kind of speed where he’s able to hit on a couple deep balls. How much have you noticed that kind of change the defense’s approach in terms of keeping them honest?
Adams: “Whether it does or it doesn't, that's why we have him running that. He's not on dummy routes. He's running legit routes where he has the opportunity to make a play and sometimes, he's the number one read depending on the play, and sometimes he's not. And he’s just got to keep running like how he does, and he will fall into some of those plays like how he did last game. I may be the first in the progression and then if they want to play the defense how they typically do, then it's going to be one-on-one with somebody who's really fast in the open field. So, it just makes our job easier.”
Q: Being fast isn’t enough to get open in this league. How have you seen his route running improve?
Adams: “It’s the detail. Ever since he came, I told y'all, he's asking me all types of questions trying to pick my brain about why I run a route a certain way. I don’t think fast guys can’t do it, but I just think that they take the easy way out and know that they're fast and they can get away with taking a super wide release on a go route rather than actually doing a release on a guy and getting miles open. If I could run like Tre, I would still be in those details like that just to obliterate the coverage every single time because you look at that and there's only a couple of guys in the league. Tyreek [Hill] has come a long way with his route running since he got into the league, and he can run the whole tree now. So, it's something that's impressive to see when guys who have that God-given (talent) apply their work ethic to it and realize their full potential.”
Q: With it being the holiday season, what’s a favorite gift you’ve received or gave over the years?
Adams: "Received? I appreciate anything that I get. Anything custom -- custom not meaning like extravagant but something like EB [Edgar Bennett], my receiver coach, last year got me a toiletry bag that I use for every game, put "One of One" on it and this year he got me a wallet that says "Uno" inside. That's like his thing that he's been calling me. So, things like that. It doesn't have to be the top gift, but I appreciate anything anybody gives me, so it doesn't really matter. But as far as a gift that I've given, I don't know, man, these guys are pretty appreciative too. I've given a lot of gifts since I've been here. I just got the whole room some Louis stuff, took care of EB with some stuff too. Did J's for the team a couple of times. Got them all beats this year and last year as well, and I mean they love everything that I do. My mom made popcorn too, so a little bit of everything. But I definitely don't stop. I take care everybody in here. All the guys that take care of me, I make sure I take care of them."
Q: I was asking Andre James about the fact that quarterback Trevor Lawrence got his whole offensive line golf carts, and obviously Aidan O'Connell is on a little bit of a different deal, so do you have to take over that burden?
Adams: "No, I won't be doing that. I think that's really cool. It's a lot better than some gifts that I've seen quarterbacks give across the league, so that's a hell of a gift. But Aidan's bank account I don't think is ready for that yet. So, he'll do that when he's ready."
Q: Coach Antonio Pierce talked about how you guys have shown that you can compete with the Chiefs, 17-0 last year, 14-0 this year. What's the key to sustaining that and closing that out?
Adams: "Coaches and players working together, players executing whatever is called and coaches making sure we continue to have that aggressive mindset, which ultimately makes -- I mean that's what typically puts us in that spot to where we have that lead. So whatever it was that got us there, we've got to stay with that and find a way to keep doing what we've got to do as players to keep moving the ball and making it happen."
On Christmas Day at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, the Silver and Black will return to action versus their AFC West rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs. Don't miss it on Monday, December 25, at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST.
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