Davante Adams appears to be short on time with the Raiders and there are some who have pointed to head coach Antonio Pierce as the source to the drama around the All-Pro wide receiver.
There’s a lot we don’t know about why Adams made the decision to request a trade, but from the standpoint of the team, the more important detail is who the locker room perceives to be responsible for Adams’ impending departure.
If the locker room believes Pierce was in the wrong for his post-game comments and the decision to ‘like’ a tweet about trading Adams, it probably wouldn’t be hard to recognize.
If there’s an NFL fan base with the ability to distinguish when the players aren’t behind the head coach, it ought to be Raider fans.
But based on comments this week from the players, it doesn’t sound like the Pierce has lost any support in the locker room.
Raiders Radio host ‘JT the Brick’ made a comment this week that seems to suggest the opposite. If anything, the team seems to be coming together as the Adams drama ramps up.
“The team will be ready for Denver,” JT said on his Raider Nation Radio show on Thursday. “That’s the company line. I love that from the coach. Talking today to other people in the organization, this team is laser focused to go [to Denver], and there’s a couple guys I won’t mention in the locker room, who are really agitated by all this stuff and want to win even more. They want to win every game, but they want to win more now.”
One of the players who sounded agitated by the Adams situation this week was linebacker Robert Spillane. Listening to Robert Spillane on Friday, it’s hard to not read into his comments as a gentle jab at Adams.
“We wish Davante the best, but at the end of the day, we’re focused on guys who show up every day, coming to practice willing to work, willing to do whatever it takes to somehow get a victory this weekend,” Spillane said this week on Sirius XM NFL Radio. “We’re a next man up mentality and we expect the guys that are going to replace Davante to step up and make big-time plays this weekend.”
It’s possible there wasn’t any intent behind Spillane’s comments, but it feels like he probably falls into the category of one of the players fully behind the head coach and “laser focused” beating the Broncos this weekend.
x: @raidersbeat
No disrespect to DA. You have to do what’s best for you. I was always taught to see it through no matter the situation, kinda like LIFE! I love Spillz man. I also know that you have to tackle life as you see fit! At some point you owe the guys you go to war with to win the battles together!
That’s exactly the way it should be, kudos to Spillane.
Who will be with us the longest davante Adams or Antonio pierce?
None of it matters if you can’t WIN with or without him!! Figure it out Raiders!!