GREEN BAY, Wis. – Davante Adams is just as mad as you are about his performance in Thursday night’s loss to the Chicago Bears.
“Pissed off, obviously,” the Green Bay Packers receiver said Sunday. “You have to play better. That’s what it comes down to -- myself, the team.”
Adams’ two-catch, three-drop game against the Bears magnified what has been, to date, a disappointing season for the second-year receiver. The Packers had big-time expectations for the player whom coach Mike McCarthy called the MVP of the offseason program back in June.
He dropped what almost certainly would have been a 47-yard touchdown pass and then got in the way of Aaron Rodgers’ last-ditch effort to pull off a comeback win in the final seconds. Rodgers was throwing for Randall Cobb, who was running across the back of the end zone, but Adams reached up to try to grab it and, of course, dropped it.
“It’s hard to let it go because when it really means a lot to you, you’re so passionate about the game and each opportunity, and I really value every time the ball is thrown to me, so it’s hard to let it go," Adams said. "You really want to have that, they call it the DB mentality, just let it go and go to the next play. Forget about it. But it’s hard, especially when I really care about it. You try to, but I’m trying to do my best to, so I can go out there and have a great year.”
That’s where Cobb, one of the veterans in the receivers room, comes in. He’s heard the criticism of Adams and wants to make sure it doesn’t negatively impact him.
“My role is just to continue to keep building him up,” Cobb said. “So many people are trying to tear him down. So many people are trying to come between what we have going here. Just got to make sure that he knows that he’s a very important piece to our offense and to our success. Just making sure he keeps his confidence, doesn’t lose his confidence.
“When you lose, things are magnified. Everything’s magnified. Regardless of what it may be, it’s magnified to a higher level. And we don’t want guys to get caught up in what’s been said in the media, what’s been said outside of this room, outside of our room. It’s about sticking together, making sure that everybody’s confident. He’s just got to get his swagger back.”
To this point, Adams doesn’t appear to have fallen out of favor with his quarterback. Rodgers has targeted Adams 46 times in the past four games. That’s more than Cobb (38) and nearly twice as much as James Jones (24).
“It’s about trust,” Rodgers said. “If you see the guy do it in practice, then making plays on Sunday for you, you go back to him. You have to have confidence in the guys you’ve got out there. Based on the coverages, he was getting a lot of opportunities.”