New York Jets Boss Speaks on Owner’s Involvement in Benching Star Safety

A week after the New York Jets inexplicably benched one of their safeties, interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich had to address a new wrinkle in the topic.

East Rutherford, NJ -- October 14, 2024 -- Khalil Shakir of Buffalo and Tony Adams of the Jets in the first half. The Buffalo Bills came to MetLife Stadium to play the NY Jets. The Jets played their first game under new interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich. / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After last Sunday’s game against Indianapolis, New York Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich had to address the benching of safety Tony Adams.

By all accounts, he was a healthy scratch. In fact, with the return of Chuck Clark from injury, it was expected Clark and Adams would team up in the defensive backfield.

But, that didn’t happen. At the time, Ulbrich refused to elaborate on the decision.

"I'd rather not expand on that,” he said to reporters. He also said that “a lot of different things went into the decision.”

Well, a week later, he had to talk about it again — for a completely different reason.

In the wake of reporting after the firing of general manager Joe Douglas, The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt and Dianna Russini reported about owner Woody Johnson’s increased involvement in the franchise the past year.

From denying Douglas the chance to offer a contract extension to pass rusher Bryce Huff to nixing a trade for wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, it seems Johnson has been far busier than most NFL owners when it comes to his franchise.

But, included in the article was an additional nugget — that Johnson pushed Ulbrich to bench Adams.

In his first meeting with the media since the bye week, Ulbrich was asked whether it was true.

Ulbrich wasn’t willing to confirm or deny it, per ESPN and other outlets on the gorund.

"Mr. Johnson and myself, we have great dialogue,” Ulbrich said. “We have consistent dialogue. We talk all the time and we have very honest conversations and I'd like to keep those conversations between the two of us."

Adams’ status for Sunday’s game with Seattle is up in the air.

Adams has missed some time due to injuries this season, as he missed two games after he suffered a hamstring injury. He returned for the Arizona game.

In that game against the Cardinals, he was one of the highest-producing defenders on the field, as he finished with 10 total tackles (five solo) in a game where New York missed 20 tackles for the second game this season.

There was no hint during the week that Adams might get benched.

He was undrafted in 2022 coming out of Illinois and the Jets signed him to a free-agent deal. He made the final roster coming out of the preseason and he appeared in 11 games and made one start.

His production took a jump last season as he played in 15 games and he finished with 83 tackles (55 solo) with five passes defended.

He also had three interceptions, including a critical pick in the Jets’ Week 6 win over the Philadelphia Eagles that season.