ORLANDO, Fla. — Davante Adams was back in Green Bay for a go-ahead physical with the Packers staff Friday before he headed to Orlando for the 2019 Pro Bowl when he met his new head coach.
And Matt LaFleur left a "great first impression" when he met one of the most important pieces on the Packers offense.
Speaking to NBC26 in Orlando after a Pro Bowl practice, Adams said "I've heard nothing but good things so far (about LaFleur), so that's the good part."
"I kind of like what he's trying to do with the offense and he's pretty innovative, so it'll be a good way to mix things up a bit," Adams said. "He's a real young guy. It's a big change-up from Mike (McCarthy)'s style obviously just off of age alone. He's really relatable, which is going to be really good. To be able to lead men, you have to entertain them and kind of hold, capture their attention and gain their respect, so he's a guy I see we can definitely head in that direction with."
When the news broke, Adams said he found out just like everyone else: on social media. His friend alerted him to the news, so Adams started doing some digging on his new coach.
"I didn't really know too much about him," Adams said. "I knew he was with the Titans so I looked him up, did a little bit of my own homework I guess you could say and met up with him and it was great."
Davante Adams, Adam Thielen, Mike Evans and Amari Cooper are playing a very competitive game of hot potato because #ProBowl pic.twitter.com/t9OIPQlfLT
— Kelly Price (@thekellyprice) January 23, 2019
Through that research, Adams said he discovered LaFleur previously coached Julio Jones in Atlanta, as well as some Titans he knows.
LaFleur's success in Titletown is tied in significant part to Adams', with expectations for 2019 even higher for the Packers' top receiver after a career-high season that nearly broke franchise records.
Adams was inactive for the Packers' final contest against the Lions due to a right knee tweak, so he finished 2018 at 111 catches for 1,386 yards, including five 100-yard games, four of which were more than 130 yards. Sterling Sharpe holds the Packers record with 112 receptions in a season set in 1993. Adams also had a shot at Jordy Nelson's 1,519-yard single-season record set in 2014.
"It was tough, just knowing that you're that close," Adams said. "Obviously next year my mindset is that I'm going to shatter every record, but I mean you just never know with fluke injuries and things like that. So it was kind of disappointing but at the same time, you gotta look at it from the coaching and third-floor standpoint of what they're thinking: not playing for much, so don't really want to put a guy that they took a big investment on, so trying to play devil's advocate but definitely was pretty tough. And I'll just have to go out there and make sure I handle that next year."
This year, Adams was selected to the second Pro Bowl of his young career. After Aaron Rodgers was replaced by Russell Wilson due to injury, Adams is the lone Packer represented in the Pro Bowl, which kicks off at 2 p.m. Sunday at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
