Raiders' Davante Adams doesn't like how little he is getting the ball
No matter how many times he has said it, the Las Vegas Raiders' best player, Davante Adams, is definitely not happy. He claims to be happy repeatedly, but he really isn't. I love him. He is one of my favorite players in the league, but he has come across as a diva this season.But then […]
No matter how many times he has said it, the Las Vegas Raiders' best player, Davante Adams, is definitely not happy. He claims to be happy repeatedly, but he really isn't. I love him. He is one of my favorite players in the league, but he has come across as a diva this season.
But then again, some of it is warranted. He is not winning as much as he would like, and he certainly isn't winning the way he would. He is getting beat up every game with hospital balls being thrown his way by way of Jimmy Garoppolo. He has been double-teamed and thrown all types of different coverages his way.
He has every right to be frustrated. But don't tell me you're fine when you clearly aren't.
"That is what every team does," Adams said earlier this month of the defenses he faces. "That doesn't make it an excuse. (The Raiders) still have to find a way to get me the ball."
He's completely right; however, I have a counter-argument. Adams has gotten the sixth-most targets this year across the league with 59. But the total amount of attention he is getting isn't the issue. It's more so when it's coming. It's more so about him not going a full half without a catch and then throwing to him every play of the fourth quarter to try and come back while playing from behind.
That has happened far too many times this season. He needs the ball, and he needs it consistently for this offense to work.
"I have extremely high standards for myself and this offense," Adams said on Wednesday to reporters. "I'm sure people are thinking, 'Well, they won the game, and they won the Packers game. Why is there an issue?' You see why it's an issue. … When you're a player like me, mentally, my benchmark is not wins and losses; it's greatness."
We could also argue part of the issue could be having eight targets in one game, 20 the next, and five two games later and four after that. That's not the consistency Adams is looking for; frankly, it's not a good offense. The Raiders are 27th in scoring in the league and 24th in yards per game. So, clearly, what they are doing isn't working, regardless of the defensive wins they have gotten recently.
"When I go out there, I expect to … have an influence on the game. That's my purpose for being here," Adams said. "I came here to win and do it the right way. … If that doesn't happen, then I'm going to be frustrated. If Jakobi (Meyers) goes out and has a monster game, or if the offense is scoring every five plays like our first drive against the Bills, then it is what it is. It's not about me, but I'm one of the bigger pieces as to why this offense is going to go. And if I'm not getting it, then that's obviously not according to plan."
And he is right. While the targets won't say it for various reasons, Meyers seems to be Garoppolo's favorite target. No one is saying that Aidan O'Connell is better than Garoppolo, but when O'Connell started his first-ever game, he threw the ball to Adams 13 times. On Sunday, he may get his second start as Garoppolo may miss time with a back issue.
But it's not just the quarterback.
"I'm not naive. At the end of the day, it's not easy throwing to somebody who gets the coverage that I get," Adams continued. "It's a lot of attention. It's a lot more than what I'm sure Jimmy, Derek (Carr), (Brian) Hoyer, Aidan (O'Connell), or whoever we've got out there.
"It's a lot of things that have to go right, whether it's the play call at that particular moment — I'm not saying that the play calls are bad — but it's real critical each time to make sure you execute the proper way.
The Raiders have a great chance to get their season straightened out these next few weeks. Every one of the next four games is winnable, besides maybe the Detroit Lions, who are one of the hottest teams in the league right now.
If we don't see change, the change Adams wants to see, after Week 7, this conversation could be repeated.
Davante Adams clearly isn’t happy with how the Raiders beat the Packers
He should be upset.
