Davante Adams struggled to get on the same page as Jimmy Garoppolo

When Davante Adams left the Green Bay Packers and signed with the Las Vegas Raiders, he did so for one key reason: it allowed him the chance to reteam with his former college quarterback Derek Carr and play together in the NFL. 

The dream of playing together in the NFL was one that both Carr and Adams didn’t think possible at one time but it all fell into place when Adams was traded to the Raiders in 2022 paving the way for their reunion on the field. 

“What led to me making a decision to ultimately come to Vegas was obviously having my college quarterback here. I can’t say I would’ve made this change if it wasn’t for him being here and us kind of low-key plotting on this since we left school together,” Adams reflected in the third episode of Receiver. 

Unfortunately, their dream was short-lived as Carr was traded to the New Orleans Saints during the offseason and Jimmy Garoppolo was brought in as the new starting quarterback for the Raiders. 

Jimmy Garoppolo joining the Raiders muddied the waters

It’s always expected that there will be some growing pains when a new quarterback joins a team, but there is no denying that things were a bit rougher for the Raiders thanks to the fact that Jimmy Garoppolo had to have surgery after signing with the team. As Davante Adams revealed in Receiver, the inability to work closely together during OTAs made it hard for them to get on the same page. 

“He came in with a foot injury and needed to get surgery after we acquired him. So not having those reps in OTAs definitely made it a little tougher,” Adams recalled in the third episode before we got to see those frustrations in real-time during a practice. 

As Adams understandably admitted in the show, the inability to get reps during OTAs muddied the waters and made it tough for the pair to build confidence with each other. 

“Him not being as familiar with certain coverages that I would get throughout games. That muddies the picture,” Adams noted. “It doesn’t make it easy to give me the ball. It’s gonna be tough to build that true confidence with each other that we’re gonna be all right out there.” 

The pair never really did quite click in the same way Adams had with his former quarterbacks, but we’ll see if that will change this season as Garoppolo has since moved on to the Los Angeles Rams meaning the Raiders will have a new starting quarterback this season. 

Hopefully, Adams will have the chance to get in some reps with the teams’ candidates Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell which will allow him to form a better rapport.