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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Green Bay Packers might have only one young star on their team right now, and it’s Davante Adams. In another disappointing loss Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, the third-year receiver at least gave quarterback Aaron Rodgers someone he might be able to count on consistently as the Packers try to salvage their season over the final seven weeks. Adams set a career high with 156 yards on just six catches. It was his third big performance in the last four games, going back to his 13-catch, 132-yard, two-touchdown game against the Bears on Oct. 20. He followed that with a 12-catch, 74-yard game 10 days later against the Falcons. Had the Packers somehow pulled off a comeback win over the Titans, one of Adams’ catches likely would have been viewed as the catalyst. He laid out for a 35-yard gain on fourth-and-5 in the third quarter that led to Rodgers’ 20-yard scramble for a touchdown (more on Adams’ role in that play to come) that cut the Titans’ lead to 35-22. “That fourth-and-5 was a huge play at the time to keep us in the game,” said Packers receiver Jordy Nelson, who added 126 yards on a career-high 12 catches with one touchdown.  “He’s getting a lot of opportunities,” Nelson said of Adams. “We’ve talked about it a lot in our room, about when you make plays you get more opportunities and not just the ball getting thrown to you but being put in position to make plays. It’s great to see Davante do this, and it’s obviously something he’s worked at extremely hard over the last three years, and you always want to see guys start reaping some benefits for it. It builds confidence, it builds his confidence with Aaron and the coaching staff, and we’ll continue to put him in situations to make plays.”
The only problem was that fourth-down catch was Adams’ last of the game. “Davante, would have maybe liked to get him some more opportunities,” coach Mike McCarthy said. Perhaps Adams’ most memorable play Sunday came after Rodgers’ touchdown run. Adams didn’t like that Titans cornerback Perrish Cox drilled Rodgers well after he had crossed the goal line -- Cox was penalized for a late hit -- and he shoved him. It started a mass shoving match, but Adams was not flagged. “I don’t care if it was Aaron, if it was [fullback Aaron] Rip[kowski]; if you’re going to come and hit a guy like that, that’s not the type of guy that player is, but for him to make that type of mistake, he has to know that that’s not cool,” Adams said. “That’s just the type of guy I am. I’m going to stick up for my quarterback, especially. It is what it is.” Adams and Nelson are now tied for the team lead with 50 receptions. For Adams, that matches his total from all of last season. “I try to get there every week,” Adams said. “It’s just a matter of what the opportunities are and the way people are playing. Aaron was finding me, you know, at different times. And I tried to make the most of those opportunities, and I try to do that every week. It’s not something I just tried to put on film today because of the Titans. I’m trying to do that every single week.”
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