Getty Davante Adams, Raiders receiver
In Week 2, Las Vegas Raiders star receiver Davante Adams was put out of the blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills by a blow to the left side of his head from Taylor Rapp. On Wednesday, Adams hit back at Rapp, ripping the fifth-year defensive back for playing “out of control” and suggesting his lack of discipline is one reason he only was playing garbage-time snaps.
The play occurred with 3:09 to go in the fourth quarter and Buffalo already ahead, 38-10 (the game’s eventual final score). Rapp was hit with a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty, but Adams was forced to leave the game and was checked out for a concussion.
Davante Adams took an unnecessary hit from Taylor Rapp. #LVvsBUF
Adams was a full participant in practice on Wednesday and is scheduled to play in Week 3.
“Was it unnecessary?” Adams asked rhetorically when speaking to the media after practice. “Completely, obviously, depending on how you look at it. Certain players play a certain way, too. Some people, out of control, they fly around, they don’t really have much true purpose out there. I mean, playing a half field on one side, you run over and hit somebody in the head on the other side of the field.
“I mean, that’s the type of stuff that contributes to you not being on the field. That’s why you’re in when you’re blowing us out by 25 at the end of the game. Maybe if that man learns how to play the game the right way, he’ll see the field. Until then, he’ll have to go and live off of plays like that, I guess.”
Rapp Has Struggled to Get Playing Time
Rapp, who had been a starter for the Rams for most of his first four seasons before signing with Buffalo, has struggled to get on the field for the Bills, appearing in just 24 snaps in the season’s first two games, or 26% of Buffalo’s total defensive plays. He had been in on 95% of the Rams plays in 16 games last year and 96% two years ago.
That is, in part, because he is the third safety in Buffalo, behind Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde.
And while Adams did not much care for Rapp’s aggressiveness on a meaningless play, coach Sean McDermott earlier praised Rapp’s approach to the game.
“He does a lot for us,” McDermott said this summer. “Extremely smart football player. I was walking up and he was one of the first ones down here and it’s every day.”
Davante Adams Can Pass Randy Moss for Red Zone TDs
As for Adams, he had two good pieces of news on Wednesday. For one thing, fellow wide receiver Jakobi Meyers was back on the practice field after missing Week 2 with a concussion suffered in the win over Denver.
After missing Week 2 in Buffalo, Jakobi Meyers (concussion) returns to practice Wednesday.
9 catches, 81 yards and two touchdowns against Denver.
For another thing, he learned that if he catches a touchdown in the red zone this week, he will pass Randy Moss for fifth on the list of the NFL’s all-time red-zone TD leaders.
“That’s a crazy honor, that’s a big deal,” Adams said. “Being Top 5 in anything out of the entirety of this league is hard to do. So it’s a big honor to be able to do that. I don’t know, ever since college, really, high school, I have had a nose for the end zone.
“Obviously, being put in great situations by good coaches and quarterbacks over the years has given me a lot of opportunities down there to be able to execute and make those plays. I just capitalize on those as much as possible, and I am in the business of maximizing them.”