A 23-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night prompted comments from a concerned Las Vegas Raiders WR Davante Adams.
Davante Adams Tired of the Talk
The Raiders wide receiver played a strong game, picking up 13 receptions for 172 yards, and later expressed frustrations with a team that was unable to run the ball consistently and mishandled plays.
“It’s not supposed to just be a week of talking about s***,” Adams said. “We’ve got to go out there and do it. That’s the theme of this year — doing it. Not just talking about it and figuring out what we need to do. We did all that last year. This year we gotta be about it.”
"I don't got time to just wait around…It's not my mentality to take all season to figure it out."
-Davante Adams says last year was about talk. This year is about doing it.#RaiderNation #Raiders pic.twitter.com/4qdRDfBzrQ
— Logan Reever (@loganreever) September 25, 2023
While Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 324 yards, his inconsistency and turnovers plagued the team as he threw three interceptions. A late-game rally included a questionable call to go for a field goal while trailing by eight points instead of going for it on 4th-and-4 from the Steelers’ 8-yard line.
This late-game rally was a classic case of too little too late for the Raiders, who had dug themselves in too deep of a hole, and the questionable calls did not make matters better. Adams called out the mistakes and expressed a sense of urgency in fixing the wrongs before next week.
“It’s not just talking and doing all that, but it’s putting it into action and figuring out what’s wrong and doing something about it so that when we go out there the next time it looks different,” Adams said.
The team is now 1-2 after a close win over the Broncos in Week 1 and a 28-point loss to the Bills in Week 2. With a matchup against their division rival Chargers next week, the Raiders will have a lot to shore up.
“It’s not my mentality to sit here and try to take all season and figure it out,” Adams said. “You use these early games like this to establish an identity. We’re not doing things the right way to establish a winning culture.”
The comments further fuel the trade buzz that was apparent last spring. Adams requested a trade out of Green Bay following the 2021 campaign, hoping to find success with the Raiders and reunite with Derek Carr — his college quarterback at Fresno State.
With Carr no longer in Vegas, a disappointing 2022-23 season where the team finished 6-11, and a rough start to the current season, trade rumors will likely circulate again.
After last season, Adams expressed uneasiness about the offense in an interview with The Ringer. He would yet again be playing with a new quarterback but was committed to making it work.
“I’m going to have to buy into this and try to be as optimistic as possible,” he said in the interview last spring. “It’s not what I expected to happen, but it’s something that’s the reality now.”
It appears that optimism is quickly dwindling.
Adams has made it clear that he does not have time to sit around and wait for the team to turn things around. The All-Pro has established himself as a successful and capable individual player and has racked up 25 receptions for 322 yards and three touchdowns in three games this season.
MORE: NFL Coaches on the Hot Seat After Week 3
But with the Raiders starting 1-2 and Garoppolo having already thrown six interceptions, the team’s performance is simply not there.
Time is running out for Adams, and he has winning on his mind. It would not be surprising if he eventually looked elsewhere to find that.