Davante Adams, Antonio Pierce seemingly at odds over major preseason issue

We finally have it: the preseason story of all preseason stories. The one to rule them all. All the ingredients are here: a star wide receiver who doesn't really want to play in pointless preseason games, a first-year head coach who's trying to set the tone, and a huge amount of overreacting. It's the perfect cocktail for a hazy late-August afternoon.

This all started after Adams returned to the camp following the birth of his child. When asked if he planned to play at all during the Raiders' last two preseason games, he replied with, "if I'm choosing, I'm not playing." (To be fair to Adams, he also said that "a few reps wouldn't hurt.") He has a history of not playing in the preseason, so sitting out these few games wouldn't be unprecedented for him, even with a clean of bill of health.

However, we learned this week that Pierce has a, uh, different view of healthy player's preseason availability.

Pierce bluntly responds to Adams' desire to not play in the preseason

When asked about whether fully healthy players (i.e. Adams) would be able to sit out preseason games, Pierce didn't waste too much time getting to his answer.

Respect to Pierce for not giving us a 45-second rambling non-answer that just leaves everyone in the room looking around confused. It certainly creates a bit of awkward friction with the team's best player, but it's the sort of awkward friction that only exists in blogs and on Twitter. I imagine that Adams plays for, like, maybe two series against the Cowboys and then less against the 49ers. If anything, just getting him out on the field goes a long way for Pierce's authority inside the Raiders' locker room, which has been strong since the moment he took over for Josh McDaniels.

But until we get some *real* preseason drama, this is what we'll have to settle for.