Brady HendersonESPN
RENTON, Washington. – The first eight games of Jamal Adams’ all-pro tenure with the Seattle Seahawks have made it clear that he is not “bored” with his new team. He says he’s not bitter about his old either.
Adams spoke to reporters via Zoom on Friday, two days before the Seahawks (8-4) hosted the winless New York Jets at Lumen Field from head coach Adam Gase.
Adams described his relationship with his former head coach as “solid” and said he would shake hands if Gase got close to him the Sunday before the game.
“I don’t hate Adam Gase,” he said. “I have no problem with Adam Gase. I just feel like he didn’t handle certain situations well as head coach. That’s just my opinion. Everyone has a right to their opinion, just like you. Everyone has a right to one Opinion, and this is the world we live in. But like I said, I don’t hate Adam. “
Adams said several times on Friday that he respected the Jets and his former teammates, including mentioning quarterback Sam Darnold by name.
Adams was unhappy with the lack of movement toward a new contract when the Jets sent him to Seattle for a package of picks that included the Seahawks’ top classics in each of the next two drafts. The Seahawks are expected to start negotiations to extend Adams’ rookie deal this off-season.
“The people who make the decisions there just didn’t appreciate me as much as Seattle did and I appreciate that,” he said. “There are no hard feelings about them. They had different views. I had a different view, but at the end of the day I’m just happy to be where I am and I have an organization that believes and believes in me that I can. ” Get it done and appreciate me very much. That’s all I can ask of a person. It’s all about respect for me. “
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll spoke to Adams and the real tackle against Brandon Shell this week about Sunday’s game, as he often does when one of his players takes on his former team. Carroll said both were “in a good place” and “very prudent”. Shell, who signed with Seattle in March and had a strong season including sprained an ankle, is set to play on Sunday after missing the last two games.
Adams said he would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited about playing his former team but he didn’t want to make the game about himself.
“I’m not trying to get upset,” he said. “I’m not trying to go out and prove that I can do this game and play this game. I was with them for three years. They saw me, they saw what I can do. I have a lot of respect for a lot of the guys over there. They’ll talk noise. I’ll talk noise. It’s going to be a fun fight. I know your record may not show it all the time, but this is a ball club that never stops fighting. “
Former Jets defense coordinator Gregg Williams, who was fired on Monday, remarkably wondered aloud after the Adams deal if the safety of a Seahawks defense not as complex as his own could be “boring”. But the Seahawks flashed Adams enough to put him on the doorstep of NFL history. He admitted that breaking the most sack record in a single season with a defensive Sunday would be “cute”.
Adrian Wilson holds the record of 8.0 in 2005, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Adams has 7.5 despite missing four games with a groin injury. He’s also still not fully recovered from the shoulder injury that, he says, has forced him to play with one arm over the past few weeks.
While Adams was at times forgiving to the Jets on Friday, he said he has not regretted how his exit from the team has turned out.
“At the end of the day, I did the best for my family, myself and my career,” he said. “I took a chance when I was 24. A lot of people didn’t think a 24-year-old would get out of his situation. They thought I was crazy. They thought I was a baby. They thought everything, but I stayed I knew who I was as a person, I know my worth and like I said, I have nothing but respect for the Jets organization, I pray someday that they will find out and get the ball rolling because the fans there All Jet fans deserve a positive season, a chance in the playoffs, a chance in the run.
“They deserve this because they are so passionate that they are so loyal to the Jets. As I said, nothing but respect and love. I will always understand where I come from, who drew me because it matters the journey. As I always say, the marathon continues. “
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