Following the New York Jets' Week 7 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, newly-acquired star wide receiver Davante Adams was not shy about making his voice heard, as he called out the team in a locker room speech that quarterback Aaron Rodgers called "the realest" he'd heard in his NFL career.
On Wednesday, Adams, speaking to reporters, revealed what prompted him to deliver a speech.
"It's not really my personality to see something that's not right and to just let it go on regardless of whether it's from the coaches, players, management, support staff, whoever," Adams said. "So obviously, it was a lack of energy and urgency out there."
"And it was apparent, especially coming from... I've played on teams that have a winning culture. And basically I just took a moment to let them know."
Adams then explained why he didn't feel it was too soon to speak up on a team he just joined.
"I had reservations about speaking up too early and being vocal too early but I felt like... In my mind I said 'F that.' Because we don't have time. I got to do whatever I got to do to help this team move forward."
The Jets, in search of a spark after starting the season 2-3, fired coach Robert Saleh before a Week 6 contest against the Buffalo Bills and named defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich the interim coach. But New York lost that game, and then was bested by the Steelers after dealing for Adams.
At 2-5, it's not a stretch to say that the playoff-hopeful Jets are facing a must-win situation in Week 8 against the New England Patriots. And for the Jets to get to where they want to go, Adams feels they can't have a "dead sideline" as they did during the Week 7 loss.
"This team being so talented roster-wise, it's just a waste to have everybody out there and to have a dead sideline like that," Adams said. "Breece [Hall] catches a ball and goes 60 [yards], and we don't, we can't feed off none of the energy and those types of plays are supposed to be contagious for the rest of the team."
"That's basically what I saw and what I told them."
Rodgers, during his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, criticized his own leadership during this tumultuous stretch, and implored the Jets to "have a little more fun."
Whatever the root cause of the Jets' struggles is, it needs to change quickly.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Davante Adams Reveals What He Told Jets in Speech Following Loss to Steelers.
