Unlikely rise of Ryan Neal giving Seahawks ideas to further rest Jamal Adams from injury
The Seahawks have found a reason to not rush back Jamal Adams from injury.
That reason: Ryan Neal.
You know, the fill-in strong safety who recently wanted to quit football going on three years idled on practice squads.
It’s become a signature story of the Pete Carroll era in Seattle. The opportunistic, always-compete coach gives a chance to an overlooked grinder of a player carrying a chip on his shoulder the size of Mount Rainier. The chip guy takes full advantage of the rare chance he’d been waiting his football life to get. The Seahawks win—and gain unexpected depth to become even better than they were before the injury or incident that gave the guy his chance in the first place.
The latest is Neal.
Cut by Philadelphia, Atlanta and Seattle in the last two years, he excelled in his first career start Sunday at Miami. He took advantage of end Benson Mayowa’s pressure on Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick tipping the third pass of the game into the air and snared his second interception in four passes thrown against Seattle.
His latest big play filling in for a bigger player set up the first of Chris Carson’s two 1-yard touchdown runs in the Seahawks’ 31-23 victory that has Seattle off to its second 4-0 start in team history.
“What I’m surprised at is how he made the transition so comfortably,” Carroll said Monday. “He hasn’t played a lot of (NFL) football, so you weren’t sure what was going to happen when he gets into the game. But he’s really carried his preparation to the game field. He looked very comfortable, and at ease. Very aggressive. Not hesitant, at all. He’s played smart.
“He’s played good, solid football for us.”
So good, Neal may afford the Seahawks the luxury of resting Adams for the second consecutive game Sunday night when Seattle hosts Minnesota (1-3).
Carroll had mentioned last week Adams was still in enough pain from straining his groin in the fourth quarter of Seattle’s win over Dallas Sept. 27—the one Neal saved at the end—that the team was considering possibly holding out Adams, their do-it-all safety, from not only the Dolphins game but the Vikings game, too. That’s because the Seahawks have their bye following the Minnesota game. Holding Adams out this weekend would mean he would get from the injury date of Sept. 27 until Seattle’s game after the bye at Arizona Oct. 25 to heal.
Neal had never played a defensive snap before he entered in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys game for Adams. He’d been called up from the practice squad as a roster exemption the day before that game, and was only playing because backup safety Lano Hill was out, too, with a bad back. Neal got his first career interception that day, picking off Dak Prescott in the end zone on the next-to-last play to seal Seattle’s 38-31 win. That was after Prescott had thrown for 472 yards, the most ever against the Seahawks.
Adams and Hill also missed the game in Miami this past weekend. The Seahawks called up former Packers first-round pick and starter Damarious Randall from the practice squad Saturday for a reinforcement at safety, days after signing him.
Neal proved he didn’t need reinforcing.
Besides the interception that sparked Seattle’s early lead it kept all day in Miami, Neal had six tackles. He knocked down two passes. He was up aggressively on run plays and short passes at the line of scrimmage. He ran deep with receivers to keep them from getting behind him, as receivers had all September on the Seahawks while they allowed 1,292 yards passing. That was the most surrendered in league history through three games.
Monday, Carroll felt a whole lot better and reassured about potentially resting Adams one more week than he did Sunday morning, before Neal shined in Miami.
“He has made a statement about that there’s a place for him to play some,” Carroll said, referring to when Adams returns. “So, we’ll see how that works for the future.
“For right now, he’s playing, you know. And I’m really happy about that. Really happy for him, too. I mean, he’s a great kid.”
Adams didn’t take the day off at home while his teammates sweated through their win in 87-degree heat with 71% humidity in Miami, by the way.
Carroll was unaware of Adams’ social-media post.
He was kind of busy at the time the All-Pro the Seahawks acquired in a splashy trade with the New York Jets in late July posted it.
“I’d love to see that,” Carroll said Monday.
The coach said eight days after Adams got hurt that he’s not yet been able to run since the injury.
“I’m going to hold out hope,” Carroll said for Adams and Sunday night’s game against Minnesota. “I don’t know Jamal all that well in these situations.
“I know he’s dying to get back. He’s been sending me messages and stuff on how much he wants to play and get out there and all that. But we’ll have to wait and see how that works.
“It’s just too early in the week to know.”
Dunbar runs
Carroll sounded more positive about the chances starting right cornerback Quinton Dunbar plays against the Vikings. He has missed the last two games with a knee injury.
“Quinton was running today, and working out today,” Carroll said. “We won’t know until (Tuesday) how that worked out.
“He’s trying to get back for this weekend.”
Tre Flowers started the Dallas and Miami games for Dunbar, at the spot Flowers started in Seattle’s 2018 and ‘19 seasons. Then the Seahawks traded with Washington for Dunbar this offseason.
Flowers played all ‘Played a good, solid game, kept the ball in front of him real nice.”
That’s the number-one rule for Carroll, a former defensive back, secondary coach and defensive coordinator: Don’t get beaten deep. Keep receivers and plays in front of you.
Flowers and the entire Seahawks secondary improved in that regard in Miami.
“He played a good, solid football game,” Carroll said.
The Seahawks blitzed less against the Dolphins without Adams, their best blitzer, than they did in their first three games. Linebacker K.J. Wright described after Sunday’s game they played deeper in pass coverage and sought to eliminate the bigger plays of 20-plus yards that crushed the defense in the first three games.
Seattle allowed 19 plays of at least 20 yards in their first three games. That includes pass plays of 52, 49, 43, 42, 40 yards, and nine such huge plays the previous week against Dallas.
Miami had only two such big plays, pass completions of 26 and 21 yards in the first half. That’s why the Dolphins were grinding out drives to field goals instead of hitting big plays for touchdowns, as Seattle’s first three foes had.
For Seattle’s defense, five field goals for the Dolphins deep into the fourth quarter Sunday sure beat three and four touchdowns for the Falcons, Patriots and Cowboys before them.
“We adjusted some,” Carroll said. “We had to make some adjustments, and we did. And the style of our play, just in general, was improved.
“And Tre went along with that.”
