Davante Adams calls for more urgency for struggling Raiders

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Raiders again put up a late fight that again fell short.

Star wide receiver Davante Adams again expressed frustration at how long it took his team to start executing.

Things are starting to get redundant.

“We’re shooting ourselves in the foot a lot,” Adams said after Sunday’s 24-17 loss to the Chargers at SoFi Stadium. “I don’t even really know what to say. We have to play better, and we have to do things earlier in the game and be more urgent early to put ourselves in better positions where we don’t have to scramble at the end of games.

“It’s frustrating to be in these games and not be able to finish them and not be able to maximize the whole game and be able to execute at a higher level throughout to make it easier on ourselves.”

The latest rally to fall short came when rookie Aidan O’Connell threw an interception at the 3-yard line with 2:39 to play in a game the Raiders trailed by 17 points at halftime.

Now the Raiders are 1-3, and Adams believes the team not only needs to show more sense of urgency on a weekly basis but also with their season as a whole.

“It’s really a multitude of things, but it’s just being more urgent early on and communicating better so that we can execute,” he said. “It’s not one thing or do this thing and we’ll be golden. It’s both sides of the ball. I just feel like we’re not maximizing it. Everybody can definitely tap into another gear. We have to do that before we get to a point where it’s must-win every game. That’s the stuff we’re trying to stay away from, and I don’t think we’re being urgent enough right now.”

Adams finished with eight catches for 75 yards. He left the game in the first half to go to the locker room for X-rays after falling hard after a hit as he was attempting to reach back for a pass thrown well behind him.

“I landed on the shoulder, and it was not feeling like it was probably going to be a possibility of doing (returning),” he said. “I came back in and had to nut it up. It definitely does not feel good right now, but it is what it is. You have to go do what you have to do for your team.”

Adams, who surpassed 10,000 career receiving yards Sunday, remains one of the best players in the NFL.

He said he welcomes the pressure that comes with being a superstar and doesn’t expect everyone to post big numbers or gaudy stats. It’s just a matter of everyone filling their role and doing what needs to be done each play.

“That’s my job,” he said. ‘My job is to be the one. That’s why I get paid the way I do, to go and score touchdowns. I accept that burden, and it’s not even a burden to me. That’s what makes this exciting for me is having those opportunities to go down and finish a game and be a big piece as to why it came together. I don’t care about (that pressure).

“It’s about everybody doing their part. That doesn’t mean everybody having 80 catches a season. I can have as many as I need to have to make it go. Everybody doing their part is for that play, everybody doing what they have to do to make sure that play works. If you think about it like that on every play, then you will have good plays.”

As a leader, Adams continues to try to share the wisdom he has picked up over a decade as one of the league’s smartest players.

He said awareness and execution are two of the terms he has preached the most about, believing an understanding of the plan and carrying it out enable players to do their job better and faster.

“That way you can play fast and dictate to them,” he said. “You make them adjust to what you’re doing. I thought there was too much sitting back and watching, maybe hoping somebody else will do something or whatever. But I don’t know. Ten or 15 minutes after the game is the hardest point to assess exactly what’s going on.

“I just know it’s not enough, and we have to figure that out.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.