Davante Adams had a firm grip on several subjects in his first media availability as a New York Jet after today's light practice.
Will the superb 11th-year wideout be read for a "full load" when the Jets play at Pittsburgh Sunday?
"Whatever a full load is, but definitely I'll be able to roll," Adams said. "Feeling good now, and we had a walk-through, jog-through practice, and it felt good running around."
Is he a Jet for the next two-plus months or for multiple seasons?
"I hope so. That's the plan. I want to be here. I never go somewhere in hopes of finding new home. So that's the hope."
And is he eager to latch on to some sweet Aaron Rodgers throws in a full practice or at MetLife Stadium or at the home of the Steelers?
"Well, I don't know yet. We didn't play yet," he said with a small smile. "He might not be as good as he used to be. So we'll see."
But almost all questions posed to the man sometimes called "Tae" come back to his relationship with the man often called "A-Rod." The two started playing pitch-and-catch as Packers in Adams' rookie season of 2014 and remained teammates until Adams was traded to Las Vegas in the 2022 offseason.
"Seriously, it's just great being able to spend time with him again. It's something I put value on," Adams said. "Having his company and having him as my quarterback again, he is part of why I am who I am, what I turned into as a player. My cerebral approach, attention to detail came from watching him operate, how he was dialed in at all times. I felt that had a lot to do with how I function as a player."
"Yeah, it was very surreal," Rodgers said of the reality of a reunion with his longtime friend until Adams called him early Tuesday morning after the Jets' Monday night loss and before Adams boarded a redeye from Las Vegas to Newark. "He sat next to me in the team meeting and I turned to him and said, 'Man, how crazy is this?' When we got together in the offseason, we joked about this but it never seemed like it was going to happen."
No. 8 and the new No. 17 — Adams said negotiations were successfully concluded for that uniform number to pass to him from rookie WR Malachi Corley, who will now wear 14 — are doing more than just sitting alongside each other in the studio seating in the One Jets Drive auditorium. Adams is also staying with Rodgers near the team facility "for the short term"
It's no secret how the two became football BFFs
â– In their eight seasons together with the Packers, Rodgers completed 615 regular-season passes for 7,517 yards and 68 touchdowns to Adams. All those numbers are the most for any target in Rodgers' illustrious career.
â– Adding playoff games into the mix, the two have connected on 76 TD passes, fourth-most all-time. With three TDs, the duo will move past Ben Roethlisberger/Antonio Brown (78) into third place. With seven, they'll surpass Dan Marino/Mark Clayton (82). After that, the top two spots are filled Steve Young/Jerry Rice (90) and Peyton Manning/Marvin Harrison (114).
There are plenty of more Adams numbers, both solo and in tandem with Rodgers, that we'll present in this week's Inside the Numbers story on Friday.
"He can do a lot of different things," Rodgers said. "He can play all three positions. He's got a high football IQ and he can help G [Garrett Wilson], who's faced a lot of double teams over the first six weeks. Now you've got to pick your poison. Tae's obviously been a monster in the red zone over the years, a lot of on-schedule and off-schedule touchdowns. I think he can teach those young guys who are willing and eager to listen and learn because he's a master of route-running and release and he's a master of his craft."
That was a concern that some reporters and fans had about this slow whirlwind courtship between the Jets and Raiders, who talked about this trade unsuccessfully more than a year earlier: How can Wilson, former Packers teammate Allen Lazard, Mike Williams and RB Breece Hall among others be happy when their touches could diminish now that Adams has landed.
"The defense has just got to get 'em off the field and we can run 300 plays," said Adams, displaying a little more of his dry humor before saying: "At the end of the day, it's not about me going out there and having a 100-yard game every single time. I'll be able to have success in this offense regardless of the situation because I'm going to put the work in, we have a quarterback who likes to sling it, and I'm trying to make Garrett better and Laz better and they're trying to do the same with me."
Adams said he told the Raiders that if they were going to trade him, he wanted to be a Jet. A big reason for that is because he, as his QB, sees that similar talent all around, from QB through his position room and around the offense.
And he agreed with Rodgers that he can't wait to mesh Wilson. Those two even talked wistfully last offseason when they ran into each other about playing together someday.
""I'm a fan of his game, and obviously, the the feeling is mutual on his side, too," Adams said. "So here we are now. We've just got to maximize this and take advantage of it."
