Former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams gave some praise to Las Vegas Raiders rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell despite the 24-17 loss in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers. O’Connell, in Week 4, completed 24-of-39 passes for 238 yards and one interception despite no touchdown passes. He had two other turnovers in the football game as well.
It is quite possible that Davante Adams can be catching passes again from Aidan O’Connell this Monday night if Jimmy Garoppolo can not play due to a concussion. O’Connell was a fourth-round selection, 135th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Purdue.
Davante Adams told Aidan Champion about O’Connell:
“I mean (O’Connell) was ready, prepared, just like he always is. He’s always ready for his opprotunity, and I feel like he did a good job. It’s not easy stepping in there on the road.”
Adams, in that game, caught eight passes for 75 yards receiving and no touchdowns. He averaged 9.4 yards per catch. O’Connell played well during the preseason for the Raiders, and it continued to show during his first career start, and it will be interesting to see if he has a second consecutive start against the Green Bay Packers.
Davante Adams Continued to Say More Praises About Aidan O’Connell
Throughout Adams’s career up to this point, he has worked with quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers, Derek Carr, and Jimmy Garoppolo. Aidan O’Connell is just a rookie, and he has potential. Even at 1-3, can the Raiders stick with him moving forward, or would they go back to Garoppolo once he clears concussion protocol?
Adams continued to add to Champion about him by saying:
“We just got to do a good job of helping him out, upfront, giving him time, and just getting him comfortable. Wideouts doing what they got to do to make sure he’s getting in the groove and just keeping his mind right. But for his first ouring, he was –obviously, it’s not the way he would have drawn it up, but he did good in my eyes.”
It is very possible that the Raiders could stick with O’Connell for the long haul. It would also be interesting to see if star players like Josh Jacobs and Adams would even stick around for the long haul if they were to drop to 1-4 on Monday night football against the Green Bay Packers.
For football teams that are not good like the Raiders, it is important to see what they have with young players. O’Connell is one of those players that might need reps to see if he can be the long-term quarterback for head coach Josh McDaniels and the Las Vegas Raiders franchise over Jimmy Garoppolo.