Raiders’ star not sweating early offensive woes: ‘We got a lot of time’
Davante Adams channeled his inner Allen Iverson on Wednesday to put the Raiders’ offensive struggles in their mandatory minicamp in perspective.
“What is that called out there that we just did?” Adams asked after the team wrapped up a morning workout.
“Practice,” came the answer.
“That’s it, right?” Adams responded.
His point was as clear as the cloudless blue sky hovering above.
The Raiders are still just starting the process of learning new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy’s system. Some stumbles were inevitable. That includes a slew of errant throws by starting quarterback candidates Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew on Wednesday, three of which were picked off by the team’s defense.
It was a continuation of what’s happened most of the Raiders’ offseason program. The offense looks five steps behind a talented and experienced defense. It’s going to take a while for things to even out.
The Raiders offense will need every minute of every practice between now and the regular season to come together. That could mean more reps in the preseason for the starters, especially if the competition between O’Connell and Minshew drags on.
But to Adams’ point, it makes sense that the Raiders need to troubleshoot a few things. That takes time on the practice field. There isn’t a fast-forward button. The Raiders have to embrace days like Wednesday and grind through them.
“It’s going to be a lot of mistakes,” Adams said. “There’s going to be mistakes made during the season, but this time of the year gives us the opportunity to get ahead of it and learn the system.”
Adams not concerned
Adams, who worked with Getsy previously in Green Bay, isn’t freaking out because the Raiders haven’t mastered their new scheme yet.
“At this point, you’re not a very mature or experienced football player if you’re getting frustrated in mandatory minicamp,” Adams said.
It’s also why Adams is cutting Minshew and O’Connell some slack. He knows they’re learning like everyone else.
Minshew and O’Connell both struggled Wednesday with their accuracy. But the entire offensive group looked disjointed, so it’s impossible to know who was at fault. Were O’Connell and Minshew not throwing the ball where they were supposed to, or were wide receivers not running the proper routes?
“It’s a learning process for everybody getting comfortable with it,” Adams said.
Group effort
Getsy’s offense is a new operation compared to the one the Raiders had under former coach Josh McDaniels.
There’s new language, personnel groupings and checks at the line of scrimmage. Getting everyone on the same page is a painstaking process.
“Things change on motions. Getting lined up, it’s different formations,” Adams said. “You might hear some things that were similar to what you had before. Getting that out of your mind, kind of unlearning some stuff is a part of the process.”
Adams has a leg up after working with Getsy with the Packers. For him, it’s like welcoming back an old friend.
“Ninety percent of these calls, they’re coming through and I know what to do right away without even getting in my book, for real,” Adams said.
The challenge for the rest of the offense is creating that same kind of familiarity.
“We’re just gonna keep working. That’s all it is,” Adams said. “It’s the second day of mandatory minicamp, so we got a lot of time. We’ve just got to make good use of our time.”
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.
