Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce took a page from the Bill Belichick media playbook on Wednesday.
Pierce was bombarded with questions about Davante Adams during the coach’s Wednesday press conference. He knew that would be the case after Adams requested a trade the day before, but Pierce had no interest in going into detail about why his star wide receiver wants out of Las Vegas. Instead, Pierce kept his answers very brief and avoided some questions altogether.
When a reporter asked about Pierce “liking” an Instagram post that mentioned Adams possibly playing his last snap as a Raider, Pierce did not deny anything. He ignored the question instead.
“Davante’s dealing with a hamstring. He’s rehabbing, and the rest of us are focusing on Denver,” Pierce said.
Pierce was then asked if the social media activity was accidental. That would have been a perfect opportunity to say he was hacked or it was a mistake, but he instead responded that he is “just focused on Denver.”
Antonio Pierce reacts to the latest Davante Adams trade rumors.
🎥: @Sean_Zittel | #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/odnE5bQ0xp
— Vegas Sports Today (@VegasSportsTD) October 2, 2024
There was a massive elephant in the room, but Pierce chose not to address it. No coach in NFL history took that approach more often than Belichick, which many people pointed out.
Antonio Pierce going the Belichick route. “Just focused on Denver.” pic.twitter.com/PqzlCxmcAM
— Steven Langford (@langfordkcbs) October 2, 2024
Antonio Pierce does his best Belichick impression when asked about liking an IG post that discussed Davante Adams playing his last snap with the Raiders 👀pic.twitter.com/9atsgvgZBB
— Caesars Sportsbook (@CaesarsSports) October 2, 2024
Antonio Pierce sounding like Bill Belichick when asked about Davante buzz pic.twitter.com/yu7u2Ssgbc
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) October 2, 2024
It is probably safe to assume that the relationship between Pierce and Adams is not strong. Adams seemed to hint at some issues between the two during an interview this week, and news of the receiver’s trade request broke not long after that.
Adams reportedly has two teams at the top of his trade wish list. The Raiders have until the Nov. 5 trade deadline to complete a deal. It does not sound like Pierce will be discussing the situation much in the meantime.
