Cameras caught Las Vegas Raiders star wide receiver Davante Adams expressing his frustration with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo during the team’s roller-coaster of a 2023 season.
On Wednesday, Netflix released all eight episodes of its “Receiver” docuseries that spotlighted Davante Adams, Deebo Samuel (San Francisco 49ers), George Kittle (49ers), Amon-Ra St. Brown (Detroit Lions) and Justin Jefferson (Minnesota Vikings) during the 2023 season.
The series showed several instances of Adams getting fed up with Garoppolo during the first half of the season. In the third episode, sideline cameras show Adams expressing his frustrations during the team’s Week 6 home game against the New England Patriots (WARNING: CLIP CONTAINS LANGUAGE THAT IS NSFW):
(I gotta get the (expletive) out of here before I lose my (expletive) life. I ain’t never been hit this many (expletive) times in my career. Every game (I get (expletive) up.”
But that wasn’t all. After the Raiders fell 26-14 to the Detroit Lions in Week 8 on “Monday Night Football”, the team benched Garoppolo in favor of rookie Aidan O’Connell. Head coach Josh McDaniels and GM Tom Telesco were fired, with Antonio Pierce and Champ Kelly replacing them.
Davante Adams also admitted that he “signed off on” the Raiders’ decision to bench Garoppolo in favor of O’Connell and that a change was necessary if he were to remain with the AFC West club:
The Raiders improved immensely following the coaching change. They went 5-4 under Pierce (5-5 in games started by O’Connell), highlighted by a road win over Patrick Mahomes and the eventual champion Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day.
In April, Adams also made it clear that he’s happy in Las Vegas and does not want to be traded, per Tashan Reed of The Athletic.
Expectations Are Higher Davante Adams & Raiders This Year
The Raiders will be expected to show improvement after a tremendous offseason by Pierce and new GM Tom Telesco. They signed Gardner Minshew II as QB insurance in case O’Connell doesn’t improve, as well as former Miami Dolphins star defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.
Las Vegas also drafted prized Georgia tight end and prospect Brock Bowers, giving the offense another weapon. With Pierce assuming full-time head coach duties, Raiders expectations have naturally increased.