LOS ANGELES — When the fifth-seeded Rams face off against the four-seed Carolina Panthers in Saturday’s NFC wild-card matchup, it will be the first time in four years that Davante Adams plays in a postseason game. The longest gap in his career gives the veteran receiver appreciation for the moment and the opportunity to play in meaningful games.
But if the Rams are able to beat the Panthers on the road, Adams doesn’t anticipate much joy in the moment.
“You have to forgive me if we’re not cheesing ear to ear after the first win,” Adams said. “We have to play the right type of ball first off in order to be in that position. We have bigger goals in mind than to just survive the first round of the playoffs. I think everybody’s going to have that mindset of just being locked in the whole time and staying present and in the moment so we can take care of business this week and then get ready for the next week if that presents itself.”
To an extent, Adams is just relieved to have this opportunity on the field. When he first came up limp on a go route in Week 15 against the Detroit Lions, he worried that the hamstring injury he had been nursing all year was about to end his season prematurely.
His saving grace, Adams believes, is that he bailed out on the route when he felt the pull in his hamstring, falling to the SoFi Stadium turf rather than trying to catch the pass from quarterback Matthew Stafford. By the time he was examined back in the locker room, he felt better about his odds of returning to play.
Still, Adams missed the last three games of the regular season nursing the hamstring and some knee soreness. Head coach Sean McVay acknowledged Monday that Adams was frustrated with how conservatively the Rams took his return to play.
“That’s one of the things that I feel like I have never really figured out is just how to manage that,” Adams said of the mental challenge of an injury. “Like Sean said last week, if we had to, I could’ve went, but just trying to give it a little bit more time just to be smart about it and to load up and be ready to go for a week like this.”
In Adams’ absence, the Rams converted 46.1% of their 13 trips to the red zone, a steep drop from their 66.2% rate the first 14 games of the season. His return should buoy the Rams’ ability to close out drives, even if offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur offered a coy “maybe” when asked Wednesday if he was having fun drawing up plays for Adams in the red zone.
“It’s been great to have him back,” LaFleur added. “He’s a competitor. Always has been, he loves being out on that grass. He hated missing these few weeks, we hated not having him.”
Neither Adams nor Stafford expect any drop off in their connection when the receiver takes the field again Saturday.
“I think we have enough reps under our belt,” Stafford said. “He’s such a great player. I just have to put it in the ballpark and let him go do his thing.”
And for the first time since the 2021, do it in the playoffs. A long time coming for Adams, but part of the vision when he signed with the organization during the offseason.
“It’s just an overall blessing for me. I’m just a piece in this thing and that’s what I mentioned to Sean before I got here and all the receivers when I got here,” Adams said. “This is just me coming here to hopefully help and push this team over edge and get where we ultimately want to be. … I’m just excited to be back on the field and able to give us more opportunities to do that.”
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