Jamal Adams Shakes Off Rust, Expects to Play Better for Seahawks Moving Forward
RENTON, WA - Like most superstars in his profession, Jamal Adams can be his harshest critic when it comes to evaluating his individual performance on the field.
After being sidelined for more than a month by a groin strain suffered in a Week 3 victory over the Cowboys, the Seahawks star strong safety returned to the starting lineup for Sunday's road battle against the Bills. Playing all 68 defensive snaps after missing four games, he produced five tackles, three quarterback hits, and 1.5 sacks, but his overall play didn't meet the All-Pro's lofty expectations in a 44-34 defeat.
"I'm not happy with my performance," Adams admitted after the game. "I had a lot of rust, for myself, just my standard. And obviously, just not getting the win. That definitely hurts and it stings, but the good thing about this game is that you can move on and another opportunity the following week, so that's my focus."
Blitzing off the edge frequently and playing to his signature aggressive playing style, Adams certainly made his presence felt as a pass rusher, particularly in the second half as Seattle tried to mount a comeback.
On the Seahawks second defensive possession of the third quarter, moments after a rushing touchdown by DeeJay Dallas trimmed the deficit to 27-17, the Bills faced 3rd and 6 from their own 29-yard line. Josh Allen dropped back to pass and Adams bullied tight end Dawson Knox, knocking the blocker backward before chasing down the quarterback for his third sack of the season, forcing Buffalo to punt for the first time.
Following a field goal by Jason Myers, Seattle again had an opportunity to make a defensive stop at the start of the fourth quarter. Initially, Adams made a positive contribution to these efforts, blitzing off the left side and beating left tackle Dion Dawkins around the corner to team up with Jarran Reed for a first down sack.
But two plays later, after a penalty had already driven Buffalo back to the 45-yard line, Adams made a critical back-breaking error on 3rd and 9.
Coming on the blitz, reserve safety Ryan Neal shot into the backfield unblocked off the right side and sacked Allen. If the play would have counted, the Bills would have been pushed out of field goal range and would have been forced to punt in a fourth-and-long situation, giving the ball back to Russell Wilson trailing only by seven.
However, while in coverage against Cole Beasley, Adams tripped up the receiver as he tried to cross his face running a route 10 yards downfield. Flagged for illegal contact, the Bills were given a fresh set of downs and after picking up 33 yards on a bubble screen to John Brown on 3rd and 16, they punched it in with Zach Moss from a yard out to extend their lead back to 14 points.
When asked if Beasley did a great acting job selling the penalty, Adams smiled and said, "That's out of my control. You know, that's a play I wish I could have back and that's something that you know as football players that we don't want plays back and they'll come back and haunt us."
Looking back at his outing, though Adams beat himself up to an extent after the game for the penalty, Carroll offered a more positive take on the safety's performance and applauded him for toughing out four full quarters in his return. With that said, he agreed some plays were left on the field, which is to be expected after a month layoff.
"Jamal played really hard, he was really aggressive," Carroll told reporters on Monday. "He had a couple plays that got away from him that he would like to play better, but he was a factor. He's really aggressive, really tough. I thought playing four quarters was a challenge for him, but he was a stud about it and got through it."
While Adams was encouraged by the fact Seattle finished with a season-high seven sacks, he offered plenty of criticism for the unit as a whole after giving up 415 passing yards to Allen and surrendering 44 points on the afternoon. That won't cut it any week in the NFL, especially against a talented, well-coached squad like Buffalo.
Alternatively, Adams understands with several new faces in the lineup, the group is still trying to mesh. Along with his return after a lengthy absence, defensive end Carlos Dunlap made his team debut and the secondary was still without cornerback Shaquill Griffin, who has been out the past two weeks due to a concussion and hamstring injury. As the unit continues to get healthier and play more snaps together, he has no doubt the Seahawks will clean things up and play at a higher level.
"We just got to be better, man. We got to get on the same page, continue to communicate. We just got to be overall better, as a group. And we're going to do that. Starting Monday, starting whenever we get back into the building... We started off slow, and you can't do that versus good teams, so we got to be better."
