GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – Davante Adams doesn’t know what it means to be the Packers’ offseason MVP. The second-year wide receiver knows this much: His coaches and teammates are excited about him.
Now, he has more work to do.
From coach Mike McCarthy to quarterback and reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers to the team’s top wide receivers Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb, the one player who seems to have everyone in Green Bay buzzing is Adams, the team’s second-round pick a year ago.
Rodgers has been especially complimentary of Adams, singling him out repeatedly throughout the offseason, saying Adams is ”going to be a star” and praising him for his approach.
Rodgers also said during organized team activities that Adams has a ”humongous upside and he’s starting to reach that upside” – public praise that the quarterback doesn’t hand out without meaning it.
McCarthy struck the same tone before the team’s final minicamp practice Thursday, indicating that Adams may have had the best offseason of any player on the roster.
”Davante Adams, if you want a clear illustration and example of a first-year player taking a jump in his second year, you just saw it here the last four weeks,” McCarthy said. ”I think Davante has done a great job in the strength and conditioning. He’s been really, really good in practice throughout this deal. Davante, if you wanted me to pick an MVP or an all-star (of the offseason), he would definitely be atop the list.”
As a rookie, Adams caught 38 passes for 446 yards and three touchdowns in regular-season play and eight passes for 124 yards and another TD in the playoffs, But he had two big games in high-profile matchups: Six catches for 121 yards against New England and seven catches for 117 yards and a touchdown in the playoffs against Dallas.
With Nelson and Cobb combining for 189 regular-season receptions last year, the Packers’ high-powered offense could be even more balanced in the passing game if Adams’ 2015 performance matches what his coach and quarterback are expecting from him.
”It means a lot,” Adams said of the praise he’s received. ”It means that my work and my approach to practice and meetings and everything is not being ignored. They’re taking note of everything I’m doing, which means a lot to me. I want it to be more than that. That’s the first step. Now, I want to be the MVP of the minicamp and training camp and then go out there and do some damage.”
In recent years, Rodgers hasn’t been afraid to say he doesn’t want a receiver on the field with him if that player isn’t ready to keep up with the offense. Last year in camp, when Rodgers was tough on him, Adams said he actually appreciated it.
”In the early stages – like, this time last year – he’s frustrated because he knows what we could do together,” said Adams, who had 131 receptions and 24 touchdowns as a sophomore at Fresno State before declaring for the draft. ”For him to hold me to that standard, I’ve always been coached like that my whole life. So I told him, `Keep getting on me. If I don’t do the right thing, that’s how it’s supposed to be.”’
NOTES: McCarthy gave the team’s veterans the day off from practice, sending players with seven or more years of NFL experience into their vacation early after morning meetings and strength-and-conditioning work. Other veteran players who didn’t qualify did very little in practice. . Players are now off until they report to training camp on July 29. McCarthy said the team had its annual meeting with NFL security, during which players were reminded of ”all the things you shouldn’t do or that have been done in the past.”
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