Green Bay Packers WR Davante Adams excited despite difficult season

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams was not allowed to speak with reporters the last two weeks because he was in the concussion protocol program. Adams was cleared from the program, though, before leaving town and was thrilled with the four-year, $58 million contract extension he signed last week.

"To be in this position where I can provide for my family and generations of my family, it's a great feeling for me," Adams said. "My support system, my circle is small but it's tight and everybody's real proud of me.

"It's not just for me, it's for my city. To do this and be kind of the model for the young kids and the youth in my area -- or even around the nation -- to have somebody to look at and look at the process and just show you that if you're patient and diligent that good things can come, so I'm glad to be able to do that and be a poster child for some of these kids out here."

Adams suffered two concussions this season and has had three in the last 14 months. Both of Adams' concussions this year, though, came on illegal hits that earned Chicago's Danny Trevathan and Carolina's Thomas Davis one-game suspensions.

Despite the rough season, Adams insisted that he's 100 percent physically now and isn't worried about his long-term health.

"Real, real ugly hits," Adams said of the blows that knocked him out of games. "This last one (by Davis), it's tough because everybody saw how it looked and I think people overreacted a little bit with some of it. But just taking precaution, you don't want to be stupid out there with head injuries and things like that.

"It's not like I'm falling and hitting my head and getting concussions. It's people out here doing malicious things to take me off the field. When it happens twice, it kind of gets to you a little bit, and you just want to be a little safe and take precaution and make sure you're not damaging yourself long term."

--Outside linebacker Nick Perry signed a five-year, $60 million deal in March 2017. Perry then played in just 12 games this year and posted seven sacks.

During Perry's six years in Green Bay, he has never played a full season and has missed 24 of a possible 96 games due to injury.

"It's disappointing, you know?" Perry said. "I wish I can give a speech and I wish I can be healthy at all times, but in this game it rarely happens. Tough breaks again. I have to continue to approach the game the same way I've been over the course of the years and continue to find ways to improve those things.

"It's going to happen, and you just try to find ways to prevent it. Came up short on that end. Gotta get back to the drawing board and figure out other ways to improve on that and just continue to be available and consistent out there, you know?"