Pierce and Raiders “focused on Denver” amid Davante Adams drama

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce deflected questions about reports of All-Pro receiver Davante Adams' trade request and the Raiders' willingness to deal him in his weekly news conference Wednesday.

“Davante is dealing with a hamstring injury,” Pierce said of Adams, who missed Sunday's win against the Cleveland Browns because of the injury.

“He’s doing his rehab and the rest of us are focused on Denver.”

With the Raiders (2-2) playing at the Denver Broncos (2-2) on Sunday, Pierce was asked if Adams would be at the facility on Wednesday.

“He should undergo rehab,” Pierce said.

When asked if his verified Instagram account had liked a Sports Illustrated post two days earlier (the like was later removed) and he wondered if Adams was playing his final game with Las Vegas Pierce said, “Yeah, I'm just focused on Denver.”

Pierce was later asked what his relationship was with Adams, and Pierce said, “Me and Davante talk a lot.”

When was the last time he spoke to Adams?

“I’ll leave that up to Davante and I,” Pierce said.

At the top of Adams' trade wish list are the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints, league sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter, as Adams wants to reunite with a quarterback he has played with in the past – Aaron Rodgers, who he worked with for eight seasons with the Green Bay Packers and Derek Carr, in college at Fresno State and for one season with the Raiders.

Adams has only really had Carr and Rodgers as quarterbacks since high school. But since Carr was benched after the 2022 season and later released by Las Vegas, Adams has caught passes from Jarrett Stidham, Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Hoyer, Aidan O'Connell and Gardner Minshew.

Still, Pierce insisted that he and the team remained focused on Denver.

“It starts with me because that’s my sole focus,” Pierce said. “I am paid here to prepare for the opponent every week. I don't bat an eyelash. I don't bat an eyelash. I don't know, I've said it before, I've been through enough in my life.” With adversity and things that don't bother me, I just move forward.

“The next obstacle in front of me is the Denver Broncos and that’s what I introduced to my team and that’s what they’re doing in the meeting room right now. We're going out to practice right now and we're going to do it against the Broncos.” .”

The tone that Pierce, who took over as interim coach on Nov. 1 last year and was hired full-time in January, is trying to set this week?

“It’s business as usual, it just keeps going,” he said. “This is the NFL, things happen every day. There have been obstacles since I took this job. That’s a different one.”