Davante Adams On His Reunion With Derek Carr, Raiders Red Zone Woes, And More

Davante Adams has had an eventful year, as the All-Pro receiver left his longtime NFL home in Green Bay for a new opportunity in Las Vegas, linking up with an old friend in the process.

Adams joined forces with his old college quarterback, Derek Carr, in an effort to bring the Raiders up to speed in what was expected to be the league’s most competitive division, the AFC West. Through four games, those two have shown their potential, with Adams racking up 290 yards on 26 catches with three touchdowns. With 242 of those yards coming in two games, consistency is now the focal point for Adams, Carr, and the Raiders offense. They finally got on the board with a win over the Broncos on Sunday after three consecutive single-digit losses to start the season.

Red zone woes have been the story of the Raiders season so far, but Adams is confident they’ll right the ship and start putting 7s on the board instead of 3s soon. We got to talk with the star receiver this week as part of his partnership with Tide for their Lucky Jersey campaign this season, discussing how the Raiders can build off their win, his connection with Carr coming back, red zone adjustments, and his own superstitions.

What’s the vibe in the facility now that you guys are coming off finally getting that first win this week?

I mean, it’s a much better vibe for sure. We’re looking forward to putting together some consistent performances. You know, based off what we’ve done — and I don’t think anybody was too discouraged before — it was just more so disappointed in the outcome of these games. We lost three games by total of I think under 15 points, (ed. note: 13), combined. So we know the type of team that we have, so to pull a game like that off is our standard and now we just got to build on that.

What has the process been like of getting acclimated to a new team and just overall, the team getting acclimated to to a new system and a new coaching staff?

I mean, it’s been about as smooth as it could go. You know, any time you’re changing up and you have a whole new coaching staff learning an entirely new team and you got a new scheme and all of that, it’s a lot of moving pieces and a lot of things that you got to get adjusted to. But with the team that we have and the coaching staff that we have, it’s made it about as easy as it could be for me and I was welcomed with open arms by the squad. And then I’ve had a lot of good conversations with some pretty open and receptive coaches too, which has made the whole experience a lot easier for me, so I’ve enjoyed it.

Obviously you you go way back with Derek Carr and as a receiver, what does that do for you to come in and you know the quarterback and you’ve played with the quarterback and know what he wants out of you in particular?

I mean, any time you got a really good friend throwing you the ball, you guys are both at the height of your careers and you both trust and understand everything that one another is put into this and continues to put into it, it makes sure that your bond is a lot stronger. And you know, the off the field part of it too helps our connection on the field. We spend a lot of time together, families know each other really well. So I mean, that part’s gone about as smooth as it can go, and it’s never gonna be easy because we haven’t played together in almost 10 years now, so we still getting back to .. or getting to a point that we’re really are happy with. And I think we’ve shown flashes of that now, but you know, it’s never easy so we got to continue to put that work in and keep building.

What is the biggest difference that you see in Derek as a quarterback from when you played with him in college to now as he’s almost a 10 year veteran in the NFL?

A lot of the same, honestly, which says a lot in a good way about him. Him as a leader, him and the way he attacks his job, the intentionality he brings to to the facility every day. He’s one of the first people in and I can respect a guy that you know what you’re going to get from him every day. So from that standpoint, a lot of the same, and I look forward to him continuing that and being the same way that he was, which is a really disciplined, diligent teammate and player. And it’s showing in his game and what he’s been able to accomplish.

I think the one thing that stood out in so far in terms of the area you guys are looking to improve is finishing those drives off in the red zone. You’re moving the ball well, but not getting the touchdowns. What are you guys seeing that can help in that, and the execution points that you need to keep building on going forward?

Football is the most team sport that there is, so it comes down to just everybody doing their job and putting it together. We’ve been in the red zone more than any team in the league, so that says a lot about our ability to move the ball, but then just being disciplined in those critical situations. Not having penalties when we start to approach the red zone or their fringe. So, I think the discipline is a big thing. Making sure you execute and lock in on your responsibility so that you know if your job is to protect, you got to protect, and if your job is to catch the ball, you got to make the play in that moment, because everything is tighter down there. There’s less area to defend so it makes it makes it easier for the defense. So you gotta be on top of your stuff.

What was it like shooting this Lucky Jersey campaign with Tide and how did this partnership come about for you?

It was great. Honestly, it was a great experience — one, to be able to meet a lot of the actors out there, spending time with them because it’s a long day for sure. And then being able to meet the winner of the Super Bowl tickets at the end of the year, just to see his response and his reaction once he saw me and they go through the questions. All that was definitely enjoyable. And yeah, I mean, the whole idea of the of the partnership itself is, you know, Tide’s giving away signed jerseys and tickets and cleats in exchange for people washing their lucky jerseys. We obviously know that there’s superstitions around lucky jerseys, but lucky and dirty are two different things. That’s the ultimate thing, we’re trying to get people to get out there and wash those jerseys in exchange for Super Bowl tickets.

Are you particularly superstitious guy or have a really rigid routine you have to stick with?

I got nothing crazy. But, I typically eat the same thing every game day. If it’s an earlier game where we have one meal before the game, I typically the same thing and if it’s a night game, I typically have the same pregame meal that I always do. So I stick to that, but nothing really too spicy or too interesting for me.

What is the pregame meal? What is the go to?

Well, I get a scramble in the morning if we have an early game. Like when I was in Green Bay, we had a lot of early noon games, so typically only get one real meal in before, so I will get a scramble made, which just has mushrooms, bell peppers, cheddar cheese, and bacon, and then I would have some toast and then the same drink, which is a cranapple every morning. And then my dinner will be something a little lighter, just because you have a little food throughout the day, maybe some snacks, so I would do a salmon salad, which is something that my wife started making for me a while ago and that I just kind of kept that going when I got to facility. I think I had it one day, had a big game, and I was like, I’m just gonna keep doing this.

You mentioned you don’t have anything spicy. What’s the craziest superstition you’ve seen from from one of your teammates?

I don’t know. I don’t know if there’s any crazy ones that I know of … yeah, I don’t know. I just know Randall Cobb used to lay his entire outfit out, like you know how people would do in grade school? When you got a new outfit first day of school you lay your outfit out the night before? He would basically lay his whole thing from his helmet to his undershirt to the pants and socks, cleats, everything like it was getting ready to go on a mannequin. So that’s probably one of the ones I’ve seen the more consistent from guys as soon as he get in the locker room, he goes and lays all this stuff out on the ground. Just have it sit there until it’s time to throw it on.