Getty Davante Adams of the Las Vegas Raiders.
It’s been a bit of an up-and-down season for Davante Adams. His numbers are still great as he’s third in the NFL in receiving yards and has the most receiving touchdowns, but there have been games where he’s disappeared for long stretches. After the Las Vegas Raiders benched his close friend Derek Carr, it looked like he could consider forcing his way out.
Luckily for the Raiders, Jarrett Stidham gave Adams a good reason to stay. Against the best defense in the NFL, the six-time Pro Bowler had seven catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns. With the big performance, Adams reached 1,443 receiving yards on the season, which surpassed the Raiders’ record of 1,408 yards held by Tim Brown since 1997. Following the game, Adams had a chance to talk about breaking the record and also dropped some interesting insight.
“It means a lot,” Adams said of breaking the record. “Tim and I speak often and he says a lot of powerful things that help me with my game and help me with my mindset. We know the mark he left on this game and to be able to come in my first year to my dream organization and dream situation and to be able to have success … it means a lot.”
Our newest franchise record holder, @tae15adams 🏅
Notable That Adams Refers to Raiders as ‘Dream Situation’
Adams’ postgame comments are a far cry from his comments following Carr getting benched. Earlier in the week, he said that Carr was the only reason he decided to join the Raiders. If Stidham would’ve stunk it up against the 49ers and the team got blown out by 30, then Adams may be following a similar tune. However, he had his second-best game of the season with a new quarterback throwing him the ball so he could be feeling better about the situation.
Fans should not take lightly that he referred to the Raiders as his “dream organization and dream situation.” He made those comments knowing that Carr won’t be back next season. He certainly doesn’t sound like a player who is going to ask for a trade once the season is over. Now, the Raiders still need to prove to him that they plan on trying to win next season and not go through a total rebuild. If they can do that and find the right quarterback to replace Carr, then they don’t have to worry about Adams leaving.
Stidham Takes Blame for 49ers Loss
Stidham played so much better than anybody could’ve expected in his first career start. He wasn’t perfect. He did throw two interceptions that weren’t entirely his fault but he could’ve played a bit smarter in some areas. However, it’s hard to ask for more from a player who never started a game before. While his teammates praised him for his performance, he took the blame for the team losing in overtime.
“The ball’s in my hands every play. I’m the only one that gets to touch it every play,” Stidham said. “Unfortunately, there were two interceptions in the game and probably some things that I definitely could’ve done better to win. Obviously, we’re going to look at the film tomorrow morning and see what I could’ve done better. Definitely felt like I left some football out there on the field today. But we’re just going to keep grinding.
“We’ve got one more shot at this thing next week against the Chiefs.”