Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams said playing with quarterback Aaron Rodgers early in his career changed his life.
Adams recounted a story from his first game with meaningful playing time, the Packers’ Week 3 matchup against the Detroit Lions in 2014, his rookie season. On one of his first snaps in that game, Adams was lined up by himself on the right side of the offensive formation. Rodgers gave a hand signal, which can have different meanings depending if the receiver is by himself or has another player on his side, like a tight end or slot receiver. But Adams did not know this yet, so when the ball was snapped, he ran the wrong route, and the ball sailed behind him.
Rodgers ran over to Adams, pointing his finger in his face. Adams gave an excuse for his mistake.
“I think that’s sometimes the worst thing to do—whether it’s to your parents, to your uncle, your veteran quarterback—is to say something that isn’t a legitimate response to them,” Adams said. “And I thought it was a legit response. ... And then he taught me what details are about. And he breaks that whole thing down. ... Like, ‘You know I’m not going to give you a two-man concept to a one-man side. So you have to understand, you’ve got to do the math quickly and make that work.’ So right then, I said, okay, [then] next week I just dove into the details different[ly].”
“And I mean, the man changed my life, ‘cause he got me dialed into knowing just how important the small things are in this game,” he added.
Adams also recounted his “welcome to the NFL” moments. On both occasions, the Packers were playing the New England Patriots. On the first occasion, in Week 13 of his rookie season, Adams caught a slant route that sailed high; he brought the ball in but was immediately hit by Patriots linebacker Dont'a Hightower and had the wind knocked out of him.
The second was a preseason game against New England in his second season. Again, Adams caught a slant route and was trying to make a move after the catch when linebacker Jamie Collins hit him in the chest with his forearm. Adams had taken to wearing gold grills in his teeth—a practice dating back to his high school playing days in East Palo Alto, California—and did not wear a mouthpiece because of them. But the hit caused Adams to bite so deeply through his tongue that he could not eat solid food for more than a week.
After Adams played with Rodgers and the Packers for the first eight seasons of his career, he was then traded to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022, reuniting him with Derek Carr, his quarterback in college at Fresno State. But Carr was cut by the Raiders at the end of that season and signed with the New Orleans Saints in 2023. Adams spent another season in Las Vegas, then was traded midway through the 2024 season to the New York Jets, reuniting him with Rodgers. He was released in March and signed with the Rams in free agency.
Joining the Rams has put Adams together with another seasoned NFL quarterback in Matthew Stafford. Adams praised the 17-year veteran and said he has put in some of his best work this summer.
“[I’m] just feeling really rejuvenated and ready to go and win some games,” he said. “He looks amazing, too. He looks just like the Matthew Stafford we all fell in love with 17 years ago when he came in doing his thing. So, I’m having a lot of fun doing it with him.”
Adams also praised Rams head coach Sean McVay, saying that he is exactly as advertised.
“It’s been the most uniform feedback ever,” Adams said of how others described McVay. “And then I got around him and he completely validated all. He’s got some energy. But it’s all legit. It’s real. You can feel him. You just love being around his energy. Even when you don’t do things right and you may have messed something up ... he’s going to correct you and he’s going to hold you accountable, but it’s just a different feeling in that building right now.”
