Davante Adams Clarifies His OTA Absence

On the first day of Green Bay Packers mandatory minicamp, wide receiver Davante Adams fielded questions about his absence from the team’s organized team activities this offseason. He explained that for him, personally, spending time with his young daughter, who was born in September, was a major factor in his decision to not to report for OTAs.

Beyond his own personal decision to not report, though, the most telling portion of Adams’ media availability was the fact that he was adamant that the Packers receivers did not skip OTAs in coordination. When pressed on the subject, he made it clear: “In no way did I sway or tell anyone to do anything.”

This gives us new context to view the missed OTAs of not only Adams, but also receivers Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Allen Lazard, Devin Funchess and Equanimeous St. Brown. In fact, Adams went as far as to turn the question around on the other receivers who did not report to voluntary practices: “There’s guys who could use the development that weren’t there.”

At the end of the day, Adams made the perfectly reasonable case that he did not report to OTAs because he wanted to spend time with his recently growing family, a personal decision, but that he may not agree with the personal decisions of other receivers on the roster missing out on valuable practice reps earlier in their careers.