Video: Davante Adams Discusses Postgame Speech to Jets Players After Steelers Loss
October 23, 2024
Davante Adams has only been with the New York Jets for a short period of time, but he's already emerging as a leader in the locker room.
The star wide receiver said he addressed some of the team's issues after a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
"It's not my personality to see something that's not right and just let it go on..." he said. "There was a lack of energy and urgency out there, and it was apparent... I had reservations about speaking up too early and being too vocal too early, but I said, 'f that,' because we don't have time... I wouldn't have been able to sleep if I didn't speak up on it. I've gotten a lot of good feedback... A lot of these guys in here haven't been anywhere else where they've won and had that urgency that it takes to be a good team. This team being so talented, it's a waste to have a dead sideline like that... I'm not here to be the savior. I'm here to help shift this culture more than anything. I'm trying to enforce a winning mindset on these guys."
Jets Videos @snyjets"It's not my personality to see something that's not right and just let it go on. There was a lack of energy and urgency out there, and it was apparent.<br><br>I had reservations about speaking up too early and being too vocal too early, but I said, 'f that,' because we don't have… <a href="https://t.co/a4pylHlfjp">pic.twitter.com/a4pylHlfjp</a>
Aaron Rodgers, the oldest player in the NFL who has likely heard a number of intense locker room speeches over his years, had high praise for Adams after he stepped up to address the team.
"To paraphrase without using any French, I thought it was the realest speech I'd ever heard in a locker room in 20 years," Rodgers said. "There's just certain guys over the years that are just real guys. And when they speak up, you feel it... He started talking and everybody that was in that locker room felt it. I drove home with him after the game and I just told him how proud I was of him for what he said in that moment."
Both Rodgers and Adams know what it's like to play on a winning team. Rodgers has a Super Bowl ring and the two went to the playoffs five times in their seven years together. Recent years haven't seen as many wins for Rodges and Adams though, as they have just two postseason appearances between them since splitting up in 2021.
It was likely Adams' desire to return to the playoffs that led him to deliver a locker room speech on Sunday.
A locker room speech is great, but the Jets are still 2-5 and in desperate need of a turnaround if they want to make a playoff push. They'll get a much more manageable opponent than their last three when they face the New England Patriots, a game they are hoping can spark a winning streak.
