Davante Adams doesn't often "stop and smell the roses" when it comes to his football career and stack of achievements, but he's been doing it a little more since landing in Las Vegas.
"When I slapped that jersey on to do the media day stuff the other day, that's when it really hit me," the wide receiver said Thursday as minicamp wrapped up. "That was my first time putting the real gear on. I like to stop and appreciate stuff along the way."
Part of that appreciation is being closer to home and family in the Bay Area who will now be able to make the trip to come see him play. Another part of that appreciation is joining a team he's watched since childhood, full of potential and headed up by a good friend at QB.
"It's kind of surreal," Derek Carr – who also saw Adams in uniform for the first time on media day – said earlier in the week. "It's been really fun for us. A lot of inside jokes from college that came back just like this, just being on the practice field, and we're learning each other again as well."
"When you've got two dudes that have worked together and already built up a lot of camaraderie and have a close friendship, I feel like that makes it so much easier getting back and gelling the way you were before," Adams added.
During the team's three-day mandatory minicamp, the Carr to Adams connection has been on display, with the duo beginning to find their groove on the gridiron again. Though they've trained together in the offseason throughout their NFL careers, it's the first time since 2013 that they've been on the same sideline.
And while both are getting re-acclimated to each other, they're also learning a whole new offense – one unlike the offenses either has played in before, according to Carr, but one both are excited to pour over the playbook for due to the expertise of their head coach.
"Josh has an incredible football mind," Adams said. "Just knowing things he's accomplished … having that experience like that and having been to the big game almost 10 times, that means a lot. Anytime you can bring somebody in who just knows how to win, that gives you a lot of confidence as an offense. We bought into everything that he's taught us and everything that he stands for and we've just got to keep stacking days."
Adams has been getting to know his fellow offensive weapons over the course of OTAs and minicamp, including Darren Waller, Josh Jacobs and the Raiders' leading receiver last season, Hunter Renfrow.
Both Renfrow and Adams produced career seasons in 2021 –123 receptions for 1,553 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns for Adams in Green Bay and 1,038 receiving yards on 103 receptions with nine touchdowns for the "Slot Machine."
So far in working together in the wide receiver corps, Adams has been especially impressed with Renfrow's immense knowledge of the position – and has also started some friendly competition with No. 13 off the field and on the golf course.
"I've been around a lot of people that are like Hunter but they're never usually going into their fourth year with the type of football acumen that he has, his awareness and understanding why he does these things," Adams said. "There's people out there with a lot of talent but they can't sit there and break it down and tell you why they're doing what they did with their footwork or the next rep, why they tweaked it a little bit because of the look that they had. His awareness and his football smarts, he's definitely ahead of his time.
"It's been great. I've been learning from him, he's learning from me. I am going to beat him on a golf course soon."
