Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels said that wide receiver Davante Adams earned the right to voice his displeasure about the direction of the team.
This offseason, the Las Vegas Raiders made moves to try and make it back to the playoffs after drastically underperforming expectations last year. But those moves have opened up the door for criticism.
As it turns out, one person who wasn't exactly sold on the direction of the team was wide receiver, Davante Adams. While fans and media took this as "Adams wants a trade out of Las Vegas," that's not the case. Adams posted a photo of general manager Dave Ziegler on Instagram with the caption, "the Man," and spoke with the media this past Thursday to downplay the whole situation.
That same day, Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels was asked about Adams' comments about the team, and said that he has "an opinion and a voice because [he has] earned it."
"And I respect the hell out of anything that [he] would say or suggest or anything like that," McDaniels said, h/t ESPN. "During the course of the process of trying to improve our team, which, I know where Davante comes from, he's a competitor. He wants to win, and that's really his sole focus, and that's what he does here every day. He's here pushing himself, pushing his teammates. He's been a tremendous leader again this spring for our football team."
Josh Daniels says Davante Adams has earned the right to voice displeasure
Adams' interview with The Ringer went viral after he said of the team's direction "I'm going to have to buy into this and try to be as optimistic as possible. It's not what I expected to happen, but it's something that's the reality now."
That, and he spoke about new quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo's play style, saying, "If we play a certain brand of ball, I can get [Garoppolo] to conform to whatever. But if we use him a certain type of way, then it's going to make it tough for us to maximize who we should be this year."
Here is what Adams said at his media session, downplaying speculation that he is unhappy with Ziegler, McDaniels, or Garoppolo:
"I've never been encouraged to speak up and share my feelings with the organization the way I have with these two guys. It's never my intention to bring any type of negative attention or throw off the focus of the team or whatever, which did not happen, by the way.
"I don't ever want Jimmy to feel a way, think that I didn't want him here or I don't like him, or I don't want Josh to feel like, or I post a picture with Zigs, and they're like, 'Oh, is it Josh? That must be the real problem.'"
Adams is entering his second season with the Raiders. Through 17 games last year, Adams recorded 100 receptions for 1,516 yards and a league-high 14 touchdowns on 180 targets. Not only will he be without Derek Carr on offense, who was released and signed with the New Orleans Saints, but also tight end Darren Waller, who was traded to the New York Giants. He will lead the receiving corps alongside Hunter Renfrow and free agent signing Jakobi Meyers.
McDaniels didn't have a problem with Adams' comments from the aforementioned interview. Now, they look forward to try and build a winning team in the 2023 season.
