Todd Downing believes that Davante Adams joining the team will allow him to create even more for the New York Jets’ offense. With Adams catching passes from Aaron Rodgers, of course.
“As a chef, you would want a bunch of ingredients, right?” said Downing, who took over as the Jets’ offensive play caller last week. “You wouldn’t want to stand in a kitchen and be looking for something in the cupboard. So it’s a good problem to have that we have all these really cool ingredients.”
Adams was traded from Las Vegas on Tuesday and plans to play Sunday night against Pittsburgh, rekindling his connection with Rodgers. The two were teammates in Green Bay for eight seasons, during which Adams caught 615 passes for 7,517 yards and 68 touchdowns from Rodgers.
This existing connection should help Adams adjust quickly to the Jets’ offense.
“Yeah, certainly ahead of the curve,” said Downing, who is also New York’s pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach. “Being able to do that Spanish-to-English with Aaron, I think is something that is really going to benefit him.
They can even go back to old signals they had together to help remind them of things, so they have that connection and that chemistry.”
The challenge for Downing now is to fully use the talent on the roster, which also includes wide receivers Garrett Wilson, Allen Lazard, and Mike Williams, running backs Breece Hall and Braelon Allen, and tight end Tyler Conklin.
“Just tell Aaron to throw to the open guy,” Downing said with a smile. “That’s the easy part.”
He was joking, but the Jets’ offense—ranked No. 22—should receive a significant boost from Adams. This also complicates the roles of some existing playmakers on the team.
Wilson will likely benefit the most from Adams’ arrival since he should face fewer double teams. However, Williams may play less and could become expendable.
Williams, who was signed as a free agent in the offseason, has struggled to connect with Rodgers, who has thrown interceptions during the Jets’ last offensive series in both of the previous games when targeting Williams.
On Monday night against Buffalo, Rodgers seemed to underthrow a pass to Williams, which was intercepted by Taron Johnson. Later, Rodgers mentioned that Williams was not in the right spot.
Williams missed the team’s walkthrough on Wednesday and practice on Thursday for personal reasons, leading to speculation that he might be traded. Downing said he is not worried about Williams’ focus.
“Mike’s a pro,” he said. Williams was with the team for the initial stretching on Thursday but then went to the trainers’ area.
“We use different personnel groupings and find various ways to tag guys to get different combinations of receivers in there,” said Downing, who has talked to Williams about his role. “So I know that he’s seen that and felt that. That’s, again, a part of the ingredients, right?
“We have an accomplished wide receivers room right now, and you hope everybody feels that there’s been some intentionality and purpose in how we’re putting the plan together.”
Downing mentioned that he and the Jets would assess the week before deciding how much Adams would play on Sunday.
Adams is returning from a hamstring injury that kept him out for three games before the trade. He participated fully in the team’s first complete practice on Thursday.
“Obviously, he’s dynamic with the ball in his hands, right?” Downing said. “So finding ways to get him the football is going to be fun. I think his understanding of the game, his savvy, his football IQ, knowing where he fits in zones, knowing how to attack defenses, and diagnosing coverages—that’s all very valuable.”
