Davante Adams back at Raiders practice, doesn't expect preseason action

Davante Adams is back, but don’t expect him to play a deciding role in the Raiders’ quarterback competition.

Adams returned from paternity leave over the weekend and participated in a Tuesday evening practice at the team’s Henderson facility. At first glance, he’s just in time to catch some balls from Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew as they vie for the No. 1 quarterback job, as head coach Antonio Pierce said he’d like to name a starter after Saturday’s preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys.

But given that Adams is an 11-year NFL veteran, and a superstar in the middle of a 5-year, $140-million contract, it is unlikely he’ll be lining up in any preseason games.

Addressing the media for the first time since returning, Adams sounded skeptical about the prospect of playing on Saturday, or in next week’s preseason finale against the San Francisco 49ers.

“I don’t think I’ve played in a preseason game since ’16,” Adams said.

Adams’ production sagged in 2023 due to the Raiders’ quarterback woes, but he suited up for all 17 contests and finished his second year in silver and black with 103 catches for 1,144 yards and eight touchdowns. Even considering his time away from the team in camp as he tended to the birth of his son, Adams can be counted on to be ready when the real, meaningful games begin.

O’Connell and Minshew would certainly love to target one of the league’s top receivers as they duke it out for the right to be the quarterback in Week 1, but Adams believes the risk outweighs the potential reward.

If it’s up to Adams, he’ll be supporting his quarterbacks on the practice field this week and then from the sideline on Saturday.

“If we practice the right way, we go about it and get on the same page with the quarterbacks, obviously a few reps could help,” Adams said. “But just based off the risk, it’s not on my mind as something I’m looking forward to. I look forward to the [preseason] games to watch the guys go at it and watch the team get better and all the things that go into that, but if I’m choosing, I’m not playing.”

Adams watched the preseason opener against Minnesota and was impressed by the quarterback play. One throw in particular got him so amped up, Adams said he jumped on a group chat while the game was in progress and left an encouraging text message for the quarterbacks to read whenever they next turned on their phones.

“They both balled out,” he said. “They both did their thing. Gardner came in and picked up right where Aidan left off and they both played their game.”

Pierce previously announced that he wants O’Connell and Minshew to each play one quarter against Dallas. After reviewing their performances, Pierce believes he’ll have enough data to sort out the top of the QB depth chart.

It’s a decision Adams wouldn’t want to make.

“We’ve got two quarterbacks that are not necessarily the same,” Adams said. “When you’ve got a guy like Aidan, he’s an extremely accurate thrower, a little bit more traditional. He’s playing his game and he goes out there and stays within himself and moving in the pocket and trusting the O-line, and obviously the O-line doing a good job keeping both those guys clean as much as possible. I’ve seen a lot of good, so hopefully we keep doing that. It’s going to make it hard on A.P. to figure out.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.