WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Playing wide receiver in the NFL is not for the faint of heart. After all, the route tree isn't just exclusively goes and posts, or in- or out-breaking routes at depths of 15 yards.
Sometimes, receivers get asked to run slant routes over the middle. Sometimes, a big hit is waiting from them immediately as they catch the football. The response can either empower an opposing defense, or demoralize them.
That's why it was so important to Davante Adams to get up right away after the hit he took making his first catch – a three-yard slant – as a Ram.
"There's something to that," Adams said Wednesday, when asked whether big hits in Week 1 are a good way to begin the season. "I don't know if I'll get hit harder than that this year, hopefully not (laugh). To set the tone like that on the first one and be able to pop up. I never want to get hit like that, but anytime you can get hit that way, still hold onto the ball, convert on third down and it's demoralizing to the defense. They want to get up and celebrate, but then when the dude pops right up like that, it can take the wind out of their sail a little bit. I hope it doesn't happen again, but anytime you can get one of those out the way you get up and you're fine, it's alright."
It was a tone-setting moment in a physical Week 1 game against the Texans. Adams ultimately finished with four catches for 51 yards in his Rams debut, his eight targets from quarterback Matthew Stafford were the second most among Los Angeles' receivers behind Puka Nacua's 11.
Statistics don't always tell the full story. For example, on the go-ahead scoring drive, Adams had a 15-yard catch on 2nd and 13 from the Rams' own 29 that kept the drive moving. Three plays later, he drew an illegal use of the hands penalty against Texans star cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. – who followed him throughout Sunday's game – then Stafford threw what became the game-winning 13-yard touchdown pass to tight end Davis Allen.
"I think you look at the tape, there was a lot of good stuff there," Adams said. "We obviously didn't get to light up the stat sheet how we can. 'We' meaning myself and my own contribution. It's hard to talk about 'I' and use that, but you'll have games where Puka goes out there and has 130 (yards) and misses however much time throughout the game and still can go out there and light it up like that. I'm just concerned about winning at the end of the day. I know my fantasy owners are not too excited about it when it happens like that, but unfortunately that's not in the forefront of my mind. I know they think it is. I'm just out here trying to win games and contribute and make plays when I can."
There were also instances where it was evident Adams and Stafford had not been on the field together much during OTAs in the spring, or especially training camp in the summer, as Stafford was sidelined with back soreness caused by an aggravated disc. The back-to-back incompletions targeting Adams on the first two plays of the drive that began at the 11:13 mark of the second quarter was one of them. Overall, though, there were enough positive moments from Week 1 to build a foundation from.
"(Timing up with a new quarterback is) not easy at all," Adams said. "It's something that having a little bit of experience with him in OTAs and the offseason program, we worked on it a little bit there. I actually missed a few of them earlier so to be able to go in the game and still have that trust and confidence in me and me have the confidence in him that he's going to see the coverage and throw the right ball, it's a good building block."
One of the most promising moments of that connection came early in the fourth quarter when Stafford fired a 24-yard completion to Adams on the left sideline. Stafford said they've had "a couple of those chances" out on the Rams' practice field, but not many. Still, he knew Adams excelled at such opportunities "from playing against him and watching him do it and tormenting my team back in the day," he said with a laugh, referring to his time with the Lions and Adams' with the Packers in those twice-a-season NFC North matchups. Stafford also went with that throw in part because he didn't feel there was an opportunity to throw the ball downfield with the safety playing over the top.
Stafford said that Adams "made a great play," but Adams said it was really Stafford's timing and accuracy that made it happen.
"You look at it on tape, I don't know if you guys watch the actual film of the game, but sometimes when you're watching the TV copy, you can't really see when the ball is thrown and where I am and where my head is," Adams explained. "I was still driving and digging, running, trying to win over the top and then I peak and Stingley couldn't really do anything about. It doesn't matter who the defender is in certain situations when you execute on offense the right way. It was a great ball and I just had to hold off late and make sure I got my feet down. Matthew did the brunt of the work there."
Their next opportunity to continue building that chemistry comes Sunday against the Titans at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. The Titans' secondary is coming off a Week 1 performance in which it held a Bo Nix-led Broncos passing attack to 176 passing yards.
"As far as playing and first game action with him, it was awesome," Stafford said. "It was just fun for me to be back out there with the guys, to be honest with you. I imagine that our experience together will continue to grow and we'll continue to get better and better."
