Adams rewarded with targets but Raiders still lose

CHICAGO — Davante Adams‘ message was received.

After voicing his frustrations this past week with not having a bigger role in the Las Vegas Raiders‘ offense despite the team riding a two-game winning streak, the All-Pro receiver was fed early and often by backup quarterback Brian Hoyer, who was starting in place of the injured Jimmy Garoppolo.

And Adams had a decidedly kinder, gentler tone after the Raiders were blown out by the Bears 30-12 and he was targeted 12 times and caught seven passes for 57 yards.

“I’m always, as long as I’m here, I’m going to have confidence and do what I’ve got to do, do my part to make sure that I’m helping the guys around me and we’re going to work together and try to figure it out,” he said.

Adams, who will likely not be traded by the Oct. 31 deadline, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter, was targeted a combined nine times and caught six passes the previous two games.

Sunday at Soldier Field, Adams had three catches on the Raiders’ first drive. On the team’s first three possessions, Hoyer was 5-for-7 for 48 yards targeting Adams but just 0-3 targeting anyone else.

“We had a few plays scripted to get him the ball and it was working and then you just adjust as the game goes on, and try to get him the ball different ways,” said Hoyer, who suffered through a 17-for-32 passing day for 132 yards with two interceptions, including a pick-six, before being benched late in the fourth quarter. Hoyer has now lost 13 straight NFL starts, dating to 2016.

Asked if the Bears did anything specific to take Adams away after the hot start, Hoyer said the blame lay at the Raiders’ feet.

“It’s not really anything other than coming down to lack of execution on certain plays that can keep you out there longer,” he said. “And then you have more opportunities.”

Adams agreed.

“I mean, not to discredit anything [the Bears] did — I feel like they played a pretty solid game all around — but it definitely had nothing to do with any crazy things that they did,” Adams said. “It’s more [about] us hurting ourselves.”

Asked what he saw out of Hoyer, Adams said, “I mean, we’ve just got to mix it up a little better.

“I think it’s about just keeping the defense honest and making it a little easier on the quarterback. We’ve got to do it as wideouts, we’ve got to get the run game going and all these things that we’ve been struggling with all year, it’s making it tougher on the quarterback. So, I mean if we can run it a little better, then I think that that would help.”

The Raiders rushed for just 39 yards against the Bears. Garoppolo, who left last week’s game at halftime with a back injury, is expected to return for the Raiders (3-4) at next Monday night’s game at the Detroit Lions (5-2).

Through it all, Adams is still on pace to catch 112 passes for 1,282 yards and 7 TDs. As he suggested, though, it’s not about the volume of targets he receives; it’s about the consistency.

Consider: After being targeted seven times in the first quarter, Adams did not see another pass come his way until 3:22 remained in the third quarter and the Raiders were trailing 21-3.

“To put this all to bed,” said Raiders coach Josh McDaniels, “we always try to get the ball to our best guys. And sometimes the defense plays things and takes those opportunities away. Other times, they don’t. We’ve always been looking to try to do that and will continue to try to do that.

“Just so happened there was a handful of things early in the game that we had opportunities to go ahead and get to them and they played defenses and didn’t double-team him, taking him away. And we moved around some, but give those two credit — the quarterback and Tae, they got off to a decent start and then they started to do some things with the coverage.”

But Adams would have liked one more back Sunday, the early fourth-quarter pass Hoyer sailed a bit over his head on a fade to the left back corner of the end zone, a ball Adams still was able to get two hands on.

“I should have made that play,” Adams said softly. “I mean, I killed whoever that was out there [Bears rookie CB Tyrique Stevenson] and then, just didn’t make it.”