Getty Davante Adams & Antonio Pierce of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Las Vegas Raiders were as dysfunctional as any team in the NFL last season prior to head coach Josh McDaniels getting fired. This was illustrated in the recent “Receiver” series from Netflix that featured wide receiver Davante Adams.
Adams is seen having major issues with how the team was playing and was clearly not happy with former quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Most of the issues have been resolved but it has brought some extra drama to the Raiders, especially when it comes to trade rumors.
Head coach Antonio Pierce really wants the focus to be on football and while he didn’t seem thrilled about “Receiver,” he’s ready to move on and focus on the season.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Pierce said during his July 23 press conference. “Davante signed up for the show and there were things said and shown. It is what it is. You can’t erase it.”
Pierce doesn’t come out bad in the show at all so he has no reason to take major issue with Adams. However, it has been a bit of a distraction but shouldn’t be a problem going forward unless another player like Maxx Crosby has a surprise series in the works or something.
Davante Adams Ready for Fresh Slate
Adams’ first two seasons with the Raiders haven’t gone great as the team has losing records in both years. However, he’s not going to let the last couple of years inform this season too much. He’s looking at this offseason as a fresh start.
“I don’t live my life in the mindset of things may get bad,” Adams said during his July 24 media availability. “I like to think it’s a fresh slate. I’ve got a whole new mentality. I didn’t come into last year in a bad place. It was the way the cookie crumbled.”
It won’t take long for frustration to creep back in if the Raiders struggle but for now, he’s happy and motivated.
Davante Adams Wanted to Portray His ‘Raw Emotion’
Adams has never been run to pull punches when talking about things that are frustrating him. However, it was a surprise to see him come out against Garoppolo so strongly in “Receiver.” He went so far as to say he might “lose” his life if he didn’t leave due to the balls the quarterback was throwing him.
The reason why Adams was OK with Netflix leaving that stuff in is that he wanted to give an honest portrayal of how last season went.
“You saw raw emotion and that was a genuine look at what we were going through,” Adams said. “It wasn’t always the brightest point, but there were a lot of good moments, too. Obviously, it’s a television show at the end of the day, so there are going to be certain narratives and things like that. Not that it was not accurate because it was very accurate in the way that I felt, the way that the team felt.
“But I’m in a really good place right now. I’m really excited. I think today was a good day to start, so happy about the opportunity we have in front of us.”