HENDERSON, Nev. — Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels said Thursday he has no problem with the All-Pro receiver Davante Adams recently saying that he and the team did not see “eye to eye” on the licensing side.
McDaniels said Adams, entering his 10th NFL season, has “an idea and a voice for a reason [he has] found” throughout his career.
“And I respect the hell out of everything [he] would say or say anything like that,” said McDaniels. “Part of the way to try to improve our team, which, I know where Davante is coming from, is competition. He wants to win, and that’s his only goal, and that’s what he does here every day. He is pushing himself, pushing his friends. He has also been a great leader on the end of our football team. “
Adams, meanwhile, said he was “unforgiving” and added that he was sometimes taken lightly when he reiterated his “love” for McDaniels and Raiders General Manager Dave Ziegler and said he was looking forward to getting new papers. Jimmy Garoppolo.
“I’m excited to work with the new guys, and Jimmy is a great guy, love him to death,” Adams said. “I didn’t know him well before he came here.
“As far as the office … I’ve never had a relationship like I have with these guys … so you can grab something and run with it if you want to just click, and that’s what people do a lot of the time. It’s me and the things that I say, whether I say something wrong or like I will speak.
“But at the end of the day, I’m a Raider and I’m happy to be here. I love my head coach, and I love the general manager here and everybody, I mean, from the top to the bottom … I’d say these are some great men at this place, that I appreciate so much the relationship I have with them, I mean that.
Adams, a six-time Pro Bowler who was also named first-team All-Pro the past three seasons, was acquired in a blockbuster trade from the Green Bay Packers last spring and rejoined his college from Fresno State at Derek Carr.
Carr, however, was benched and left the team with two games left in the season. He was released in February before signing with New Orleans Saints.
The Raiders signed him Jimmy Garoppolo a three-year, $72.75 million free agent contract with $45 million guaranteed this season. Garoppolo, however, is coming off a left foot injury and has not been on the field for the start of OTAs. McDaniels did not say whether Garoppolo was offseason surgery – The Athletic reported that he did — but said there were no surprises in the quarterback’s overhaul.
Adams said the same about the Raiders front office to The Ringer in an article published last week but he posted a photo of himself with general manager Dave Ziegler the next day, his arm around Ziegler, with the caption: “The Man.”
“I’ve never been so inspired to speak up and share my thoughts with an organization as I have with these two guys,” Adams said. “It’s not my intention to bring any kind of attention or lose focus on the team or anything, which hasn’t happened, by the way.
“I don’t want Jimmy to feel the other way, to think I don’t want him here or I don’t love him, or I don’t want Josh to feel like, or I post a picture with Zigs, and they’re like, ‘Oh, is that Josh?
“If you’re bored, go play Monopoly or some s—.”
Adams laughed.
“These things happen, I would say, all the time, where somebody might have a question or a comment or a conversation, and those are the things that need to be done, and the players got it,” McDaniels said. “And so, I have nothing but respect for anyone like that, who has a comment or an opinion like that.
“It’s not really a concern of mine that anybody takes whatever vision Dave or I have for the decisions we have to make. Sometimes it’s difficult.”