Just as was presumed by many, the Green Bay Packers' failure to draft a wide receiver this past spring was a surprise to just about everybody, including those within the locker room -- even the Pack's No. 1 wideout, Davante Adams.
"We were all expecting to have a receiver drafted, but that wasn't the case," Adams told reporters on Tuesday, per NFL Network's Stacey Dales.
Indeed, adding a receiver to compliment Adams and aid Aaron Rodgers has been a long-running Green Bay storyline.
However, the Packers opted to go through the entire 2020 NFL Draft without selecting a wideout -- a decision complicated by free-agent signee Devin Funchess' choice to opt out of the season. Despite a receiver-rich draft class, the Packers picked Jordan Love in the first round after trading up to grab him. Hence, the receiver quandary has been overshadowed by the already lingering plot line of Rodgers playing with his heir apparent in the same QB room.
That was the question Adams was actually addressing when he dropped the nugget in regard to his surprise about no receiver being selected.
In offering his opinion about the Rodgers-Love conundrum, Adams also relayed that he doesn't feel as though Love's selection will affect Rodgers, as he and his quarterback are similar in their drives to be the best regardless of outside motivation.
"I don’t think that it'll have any type of affect on him," Adams said. "I don’t think it’s gonna drive him to be a better player or have him sunk in a hole. I think Aaron’s a lot like me, I’m a lot like him, however you wanna put it. Truly confident players who know what they’re capable of, and know what they’ve done, and that continue to work to be better than what they were, we don’t necessarily need – like I don’t care if they brought in Julio Jones in here – that’s not gonna necessarily make me work harder, because I’m already a workhorse, and I already know that I’m trying to be better than I was last year. "
Rodgers is the only starting quarterback Adams has known in his six-season tenure, which has included three straight trips to the Pro Bowl despite having little help from his fellow wideouts. Thus, as shocking as it was to see Love picked rather than a receiver, Adams is confident in his longtime quarterback going forward.
"It may have shocked – you know we were all expecting, it’s no secret – we were all expecting to have a receiver drafted, but that wasn’t the case," Adams said. "So, Aaron’s gonna come in ballin’ and doing his thing and he’s got the right mindset."