Vibes are through the roof in Vegas.
The Las Vegas Raiders fired head coach Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler on Tuesday night, and despite losing their head coach a couple of days ago, the Raiders locker room vibes are through the roof.
Let’s start with Davante Adams. On Monday, Adams was held to one catch for 11 yards, and was visibly frustrated after QB Jimmy Garoppolo overthrew him when he was open. That led to this on the sideline, visible frustration from a top-5 NFL receiver:
Fast forward to Thursday afternoon, and Adams looked like a completely different player. In fact, he looked like a basketball player, shooting hoops in the locker room in his down time.
Not only that, but the locker room was open to the media today, who noticed a different energy in the room compared to the one that McDaniels ran previously. In fact, it looked like most of the players in the locker room were having fun. Per The Athletic’s Vic Tafur:
Also, The Athletic’s Tashan Reed noted that the offensive linemen were also having more fun post-McDaniels than they ever were before.
The #Raiders offensive line has been having impromptu wrestling matches in the locker room today
— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) November 2, 2023
On one hand, this shows how much the Patriot Way has become ridiculed when it’s not in Foxboro. Kalyn Kaher wrote about former Patriot acoltye Matt Patricia, who ran a domineering ship with no fun, ultimately leading to the downfall of the Lions. It’s not hard to draw that through line to the Patriot Way not leading to any fun in any non-Patriot locker room.
On the other hand, it’s just incredibly funny that the Raiders vibes skyrocket once the McDaniels stench is away from the team. McDaniels doesn’t seem like a lot of fun to be around, and this truly isn’t helping his case. I hope the Raiders keep having fun, sticking it to McDaniels with every made jumper.
