Raiders receiver Davante Adams, the team’s top offensive player, had publicly expressed his frustrations with Las Vegas’ offense.
But now that former coach Josh McDaniels was fired early Wednesday morning, Adams stressed that players aren’t jubilant about the change as much as the team needed to shift its mentality.
‘Don’t get it confused,’ Adams said Thursday during a news conference. ‘It’s not a celebration that we have a new coach and that there’s been changes made. Obviously I think it was time, one way or the other, it was time for some sort of change just to bring a little juice in and revitalize the team a little bit.
‘I think it’s more of a mindset that we’re trying to — not force but just have moving forward to try to be as positive as possible.’
McDaniels, who has an offensive background after years as the offensive coordinator of the Patriots, could not replicate New England’s success with the Raiders. Las Vegas did produce decent yardage totals, ranking 12th in total offense (352.5 yards per game) and tied for 11th in passing offense (231.4), but the team struggled to convert that into points, ranking 26th in red zone efficiency (48.94%).
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Adams, in particular, has seen his production drop significantly. The three-time All-Pro selection has caught just 47 passes for 539 yards and three scores. This past Monday, in a loss against the Lions, Adams drew seven targets but caught just one pass for 11 yards.
‘We have a thing put in place where the stakes are different now but we have an opportunity to change it,’ Adams continued. ‘That’s the mindset we’re having, just trying to have fun and enjoy our time in this building. Because I think as we speak to each other, it’s been feeling like work too much and not having enough fun, so we’ve just got to get back to that.’
Raiders interim coach Antonio Pierce announced Wednesday in his introductory news conference that veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was being benched in favor of rookie Aidan O’Connell moving forward.
Adams stressed that he appreciates McDaniels and former general manager Dave Ziegler, who was also fired Wednesday, for their role in bringing him to the Raiders, via a trade with the Green Bay Packers in March 2022.
‘As I’ve said countless times: I want to be a Raider and I want to make this work,’ Adams said.