Raiders' Davante Adams Entire Week 18 Update

The Las Vegas Raiders are a franchise on the brink of significant change this off-season, and with change on the horizon, Davante Adams gave his update.

HENDERSON, Nev.--As the Las Vegas Raiders' disappointing season ends this weekend, the NFL was almost merciful in announcing that the 2022 season will end one day sooner, on Saturday.

Wide receiver Davante Adams discussed his desire to return to the Raiders, the state of the franchise, the NFL, and the Silver and Black this weekend.

You can watch the entire interview and read the transcript below:

Wide Receiver Davante Adams

Q: We saw a couple plays where Jarrett [Stidham] was making some plays with his legs in the pocket, maneuvering around on the touchdown throw to you. As a wide receiver when your quarterback decides, 'OK, it's time to check off something and go make some plays,' or get some maneuverability and some space. For you as a as a wide receiver how is it working in concert with him in that regard?

Davante Adams: "I mean, it's fun. It's obviously something I've got a lot of experience doing playing with Aaron [Rodgers] for such a long time. You get used to some of the off-schedule stuff, and that's what the really good quarterbacks do is they extend plays and they find a way, whether it's with their legs -- he did that a couple of times -- or if it's just buying a little bit more time and holding on until the last second. That's not easy to do, you've got to be a pretty tough guy to sit in there and take a hit like that just to make sure you've given it everything you got as far as exhausting all your options. So, I got a lot of respect for just the way he sees the game in that aspect, because you saw that in preseason. And then you never know if it's going to pan out like that when it's real live bullets when season starts. But to see that, I was definitely impressed to know that he has that in his bag and that he's tough enough to hold on to make any play work."

Q: What are you doing as a wide receiver? We could see you reading him. What do you look for?

Adams: "It's not just reading him, it's reading where everybody is because there's rules to it. There's not a rule like: 'Tae [Davante] you have to go here on this,' but just based off of spacing, because Darren [Waller] may be open, but if I run in his spot and I bring a guy that's covering me, well then it's just not any good all together at that point. For me, it's just reacting fast, finding a spot that's vacant -- more often than not moving with the quarterback and not going against it, that way he doesn't have to try to be Superman and potentially make a bad decision. So, for me it's just helping the quarterback out as good as I can and finding an open spot."

Q: I saw you donated to [Damar] Hamlin's toy drive. What was your reaction to the injury and why did you feel like it was important to donate as well?

Adams: "I mean, really I think it's a tough moment for everybody right now, especially him and his family and his football family included, just to see him in that condition. It's scary just knowing that as far as I know, he's pretty healthy guy. To have something like this happen out of nowhere is a pretty scary thing for everybody. So, it kind of puts things in perspective and it's just a donation, but at the end of the day, for me it's just a way to help in any way that I can. As of now I don't know him personally, so I can't call his family, I can't do all the things that I wish I could do. So, to be able to help with a charity or anything that can help -- if nothing else to show other people that I did that, that way that will kind of encourage other people. Because I saw Tom Brady, a couple other guys too and their families decide to make some donations. So when I see that, that kind of got me to jump on the boat as well. We're just all really praying for him and hoping that he pulls through and everything is good and he's OK altogether. Obviously, we're hoping that he's still here with us, but most importantly we just want to bring peace to him and his family as we move forward with this. Like I said, just a small donation, something that obviously can't help with his health in the immediate, but just anything. The first thing that I felt like I could reach out and do I just tried to do it."

Q: I know this team in the off-season will make decisions that you don't have a say in, but if they get you a quarterback who you know can get you a ball, do you want to come back and be a Raider again next year?

Adams: "Yeah, absolutely. I mean like I said, I wouldn't have been here or ended up here originally probably if Derek [Carr] wasn't here, but it doesn't necessarily mean that I won't be here in the event that he's not here. That's my boy, obviously I've got his back through anything. I think I've made that more than clear at this point, and I support him, I support everything that he has moving forward as well. But my dream was to play for this team before he was a Raider, obviously, and at this point I want to obviously try to make this thing work and continue on doing what I'm doing here and myself get better and obviously see the team grow and get better as well."

Q: Seeing Josh Jacobs play through what he's played through this season and still produce -- what does that tell you?

Adams: "Well, it tells me what I assumed about him before, what I thought I knew but now it just basically validated that and confirmed everything that I thought I knew. I mean, he's another dude who's extremely tough. He's like me in the sense -- the real tough guys are the ones that they don't tell you about everything they're going through. So, you see the stuff that's on the injury report, but you don't really know everything that every guy is going through. Some of them, the fake tough ones, they'll know and you'll see that it'll be lit up everything every week, it'll be on there. I mean realistically, that's how the league would be. If it was really you had to put every single thing you felt that was nagging you or bothering you throughout the season, there would be a pretty extensive injury sheet with probably every single player on there that's playing in the games. Football is probably the only sport where it's a 100 percent injury guarantee in one way or the other. So, when you've got a guy like Josh who obviously has the pinky and the calf that he battled through when he went and set a record, and does that type of stuff, that's what I expect from him now after knowing who he is. It's not something you can expect from just anybody though, so that's just says a lot."

Q: That being said, how does your body feel at this point in the season?

Adams: "It's felt better, but it's also felt a lot worse. I mean, obviously with what some people are going through, Damar [Hamlin] and his family and what they're going through right now, I can't complain about a nagging ankle right now. I mean, at the end of the day, I've got my health and my family's health. So that's what means the most to me."

Q: How hard is it to concentrate on playing a football game right now with that going on?

Adams: "It's tough, I'm not going to lie. I appreciate the way we started the day off kind of in our team meeting we addressed it a little bit and opened it up just to talk about it. A couple guys have some questions about just the ins and outs of what happened, and obviously we don't really know, and no doctor can come tell us exactly right now. If we haven't been told, an independent guy is not going to be able to tell us exactly what happened. But just to have a couple answers, at least address the elephant in the room, is kind of a big deal right now. It's kind of insensitive I think if we were to just jump in here without talking about it and making sure everybody's mind is clear and able to jump into that. So I appreciated the way that Josh [McDaniels] started off the day just kind of hitting on that real quick. But like I said, I've got a couple of things that I've been dealing with this year and some things that feel worse than others, but for the most part I can't complain, and I won't."

Q: Can you briefly describe the 60-yard touchdown? On that play it looked like a hitch route, then you kind find the soft spot in zone coverage. How important was it to get friendly with the quarterback, shortening the distance?

Adams: "Yeah, I just try to work with him. Initially I went in, ran the return, they kind of had a had a bracket on me, and then one of the guys who was responsible for me saw Jarrett [Stidham] moving over to the left side, his right, so then I guess he decided to go up and try to hit him in the face and he was successful in doing that only Jarrett stuck with me for just that extra second because he actually took a hit – it happens quick, but it took a little longer than what I would have liked to as far as making sure my quarterback is going to stay safe. I obviously didn't want him to take that hit, but like I said, proud of him for sitting in there and waiting because anytime you can have a 60-yard touchdown on a defense like that, you'll take it however you can get them. So, for me it's just finding an open spot like I said and working with him, and just letting guys kind of slip and establish where they're going and then just finding a spot."

Q: As somebody that is the face of this franchise, when it gets back to the quarterback and whatever decisions might be made – I know you're not in the decision making part – but do you want to be kept kind of in the loop on what's going on throughout the off-season?

Adams: "Absolutely. I mean me, Josh [McDaniels], Ziegs [Dave Ziegler], we've all got a really good dynamic and it's something that I really appreciate. I've mentioned it to them as well. Obviously, they don't have to do anything as far as I'm not a part of the front office, but obviously they know the reason why I came here and a step like this is obviously something that means a lot to me and my personal career and obviously what I'm trying to chase as far as the ultimate pursuit to get that ring. I'm not a guy who's just going to come in here just saying anything -- they know whether it's about the scheme or if it's about personnel, whatever it is, there's a rhyme to the reason. So, I'm definitely going to have something behind whatever it is that I'm thinking or saying. So, we've obviously got a good understanding for one another and that helps this whole process."

Q: Even on that last play when Jarrett Stidham got bumped into and the ball kind of floated and was picked off, it looked like you have a step or two for the potential walk off?

Adams: "Yeah, we definitely had some opportunities and the two picks and the two times where we turned the ball over, you can't even really blame the quarterback or blame anybody in particular. It's just one of those freak kind of plays. The first one it would have been a catch and tackle, maybe a catch and first down. I had the opportunity to split two guys. When I saw it on the tape, I kind of sat in the void and it would have been a perfect ball right to me. It gets tipped up in the air and it turns into a pick. So, not much you can do about that, you've just got to hope that you can keep the defensive lineman's hands down and stuff like that. But for the most part, I feel like we got a pretty good feel for how we're going to move and attack this upcoming game. Obviously got a little bit more preparation to do, but definitely liked the start we had and loved Jarrett's mindset out there."

Q: You had some ridiculous catches in the game Sunday. Do you ever give yourself time when you're watching tape to appreciate what you did?

Adams: "Honestly, no. What I enjoy more is reading the comments of every Niner fan who said it was incomplete. That makes me a little bit happier than praising myself and patting myself on the back. I like the people that are pissed off about it."

Q: Earlier today, Josh [McDaniels] said the thing that really stands out about you is the fact that you come to practice every day, you don't miss days and you work hard despite everything you've accomplished. With this last game, for you person what motivates you to finish out the season?

Adams: "Pride. I mean, we've got a lot to play for. Obviously, the playoffs are not going to be in our future this year, but even after a game like this past one, you've got a bunch of guys who come up and talk to different individuals saying like: 'That was a hell of a fight. That was one of the toughest games we had this year,' and that means something knowing that guys recognize that even when you're in a situation where maybe you're not, for lack of lack of better words, not playing for anything. So for me, I play for the name on the front even though it doesn't say it on there, but I play for the Raiders and I play for my family as well. I want to be remembered as a certain type of player when it's all said and done for me, so there's really no question. It's just I play one type of way. So if I'm out there, it's going to be full go and it's going to be hopefully a lot of excitement if I get opportunities with the ball. But yeah, like I said, just pride. I play for the name on the front and the back and that gets me through."

Q: For the last couple of years between COVID and concussions this year and obviously what just happened to Damar [Hamlin], there has been a lot of discussion about just player safety in general. Do you feel that can kind of be an eye opener for people that don't play football what you all have to go through on a human level?

Adams: "Yeah, I mean whether or not it's something that people would truly take a real look at, I think something that I would -- I actually texted him after I saw his quick segment, he had like a maybe like a 90 second deal on NFL network -- but Ryan Clark got on there and kind of gave a quick little, his two cents on everything. I think it's a really enlightening, well-spoken piece and it would it would do a lot for people who -- I had couple weeks back to back right where I didn't really have a big input in the game and wasn't able to fill up everybody's fantasy sheet, and guys and girls can kind of lose fact that we're human beings and sometimes it's bigger than just that. Sometimes, it is just coming out of a game healthy and being able to thank God for something like that. So, when you when you have opportunity to come out and you play a very, very physical game like that and you come out and you do have your health and maybe you don't light up the stat sheet, sometimes it's good for the fans to see that and understand what we go through and why we get millions just to play a game, because you put your life on the line essentially. I mean, it sounds dramatic until you have a situation like what happened with the Damar [Hamlin]. So, hopefully that can be an eye opener. I'm very sad that it had to happen like that to be a potential eye opener for some of the fans and some of the people on the outside, but let this be a lesson to them to understand that it's a you know, it's a pretty violent game and a serious game. We put our lives at risk every time we get out there. So, it's a tough thing to deal with, especially after seeing that and go out there and have to follow up something that happens like that, but it's tough. And then the mental part for a guy like Tee [Higgins] as well to hear people saying a bunch of BS about what he did and he could have prevented it. That's just craziness to me, and it's tough that people would even put that on another man's heart like that. It's not easy doing what we do, so hopefully people can take this instance and kind of learn some from it."

Q: What did Jarrett Stidham show the Raiders organization and the NFL at large on Sunday?

Adams: "Well, I mean I think he showed him what he's capable of and what he can do. Definitely, he has some potential, I think that sustaining that and doing it again will be something that'd be big for him as far as seeing how they view him and how they want to move forward. Consistency is a big thing. I mean you guys know how it is, even for me at this point. If I came in this year and I didn't follow up what I've done previously, well then you're not at the top anymore. Same thing, a guy gets hurt, it may not even be a lack of production, you may be hurt and not in there and then they forget about you. So, it's all about the consistency, how many times you can do it and how well you can do that. It's not about how good you are, it's about how good you play."

The Raiders' final game of the season is at Allegiant Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday, Jan. 7, and kicks off at 1:30 p.m. PST/4:30 p.m. PST. It will be available to watch on ESPN and ABC.

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