Rams Comment on Davante Adams' Game-Changing Talent

"It's important to evaluate the film on that just because if you go into it not knowing a guy's technique, then you take potentially too many reps throughout the game to put together and figure out a comfortable way to attack him. For me, I try to figure out exactly what kind of guy he is. What does he do? What does he like to do? Then from there, you still have to play the play and play the down and respect them. Sometimes a guy like [Buccaneers Cornerback Zyon McCollum] ‘27’, he'll like to shoot his hands. Last week I saw him on tape a lot where he shoots his hands and then gets out of there. I had that in my mind."

"Then actually my first rep was a press rep against him, he shot his hands and stayed firm at the line just based off of probably watching my tape and seeing me hop off the line and thinking that that would work. Playing the down is the most important part. You have to understand coverages and a lot of different things. It’s a really long-winded way to say basically you just scout out the guy and what he likes to do and then formulate a good plan based off of that to execute your job.”

Matthew Stafford

Stafford has been playing at his best since Adams joined the team, finding his 2021 form as both Stafford and Adams lead their respective positions in touchdowns.

“I think it's just work," stated Stafford. "I think it's going out there, working on it, seeing it, talking about it. It's constant. That's really with all the guys. He's one of them obviously. He does a great job at the line of scrimmage. He does a great job of communicating and I think getting those reps together always helps.”

Mike LaFleur

LaFleur understands Adams from two different angles. His brother Matt coached Adams in Green Bay and LaFleur himself was in constant wars against Adams when the 49ers played the Packers during LaFleur's time in San Francisco.

“He's been a problem at the line of scrimmage well before he got here," stated LaFleur. "Since he's been in the league in ‘14, he's probably the best release guy of that time. He's still doing it. It's no different than what we said when we got him here back in the spring and how he felt in August. The dude still has a lot of juice in that body. As you guys can see, he's a problem at the line of scrimmage. He knows ball really well. It's the stuff that he does within the moment and why he's doing it."

"It's next level type of stuff. If you want to have the career that he's had, a hall of fame career, you're going to think that way. If you have the ability to do what you're thinking and it makes sense. It'll never get old. It was really fun from afar watching him. It was fun particularly because it was with [Packer Head Coach Matt LaFleur] my brother too, as long as he wasn't playing the team that I was associated with, but being able to get up close and personal this last year with it and really dig into why he's doing it, it's a unique deal.”

LaFleur was asked if he believes Adams' releases are due to a physical or mental advantage.

“He knows where he wants to be when he needs to be there. He has a great sense of timing. He has a great sense of the defender he’s going against whether it be through the film study or sometimes it's, ‘Hey, how's this guy going to play me? I might release on a run play to just see how he's going to react and stuff.’ It's the game within the game."

"Those are things that you can see what he's doing, but there are things that he's probably setting up that we don't even know like I just said on a run play and stuff like that. It's a pretty unique thing and it's a unique trait. That's one of the reasons, amongst a lot of reasons, why he's had the success he's had throughout his career.”

Puka Nacua

Nacua, who has been receiving lessons from Adams on releases, gave his insight on Adams' process and work in the meeting rooms.

“I see him watching tape in all of our meetings," stated Nacua. "He has his process and I think it's been cool to be in the conversations with him when we are in the unit meetings and the things that he's noticing."

"Then, watching the clips on my own and seeing how the defenses are trying to play us and being able to watch him and be in some of the conversations and how he's watching the tape through his thought process has been fun.”