Jamal Adams practices, Seahawks expecting him to play at Buffalo. 7 starters miss practice
Jamal Adams is back on the field.
The Seahawks’ intent is he will be back in the game.
The All-Pro safety practiced Wednesday for the first time since he strained his groin Sept. 27 in Seattle’s win over Dallas.
The Seahawks (6-1) listed him as a limited participant four days before their test at AFC East-leading Buffalo (6-2).
Pete Carroll listed him as the opposite of limited for Sunday’s game.
“He’s full go,” Seattle’s coach said.
“I’m really excited to tell you that. He’s gotten all the way to the point, was close last week, would have had a chance last week, couldn’t get him caught up.
“He’s ready to go, pumped. Really looking forward to it.”
He’s not alone.
The Seahawks’ defense is ranked last in total yards allowed, and last in yards passing allowed per game. It has struggled all season to pressure opposing quarterbacks consistently. Adams is uniquely skilled and dangerous at blitzing, which Seattle did more last week with linebacker Bobby Wagner against San Francisco than it had done in years.
The result: the Seahawks’ best pressuring this season, dominating Jimmy Garoppolo in their win over the 49ers.
Adams is the team’s co-leader in sacks with Wagner and end Benson Mayowa (each has two). That’s even through Adams hasn’t played in more than a month.
In that time, the Seahawks stopped blitzing and dropped deeper into coverage to cut down on the many big plays its defensive back seven were allowing in pass defense. Arizona exploited that softer approach in its win over Seattle two games ago.
Carroll said following the Seahawks’ win over the 49ers the blitzing of last weekend will continue, particularly with their best blitzer Adams now back in the defense.
“We just decided to take a little turn,” Carroll said after the win over San Francisco, when Seattle held Garoppolo to 84 yards passing while sacking him thrice and hitting him seven times. “We are still trying to figure some things out to get better, and we just put it on the fellas. We have a great attitude group, and they want to play tough and physical and go after it. And we just looked for opportunities to make sure and show those guys.
“And with Jamal coming back (this) week, it’s going to happen some more.”
Wagner said he’s all for more blitzing.
“I love it,” the All-Pro middle man said. “I mean, I could blitz that much for the rest of my career.
“If they let me do it, I’m all for it.”
Mayowa missed practice again Wednesday with the ankle injury that kept him out of the 49ers game.
He was one of seven starters to miss Seahawks practice.
Carlos Dunlap practiced for the first time since his trade last week from Cincinnati. The two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher will make his debut for Seattle Sunday.
Chris Carson hasn’t practiced in the two weeks since he sprained his foot early in Seattle’s loss at Arizona. At this point the lead running back seems unlikely to play in Buffalo.
Same with Carlos Hyde. The number-two back remained out with a strained hamstring.
Travis Homer missed practice Wednesday, but Carroll said the third-down running back will return Sunday. A bruised knee him to a few plays mainly as a blocker last weekend. Rookie DeeJay Dallas got his first career start and his first two NFL touchdowns against the 49ers, because he was the only healthy running back. He was still that at practice Wednesday.
That’s why the Seahawks signed running back Alex Collins, their 2016 draft choice, to the practice squad Wednesday.
“We’ll see Chris on Friday, see how he looks. Give him till Friday to see what we can find out,” Carroll said.
“Doesn’t look like Carlos is going to make it. We got to take care of the hamstring.
“We brought in Alex Collins to help us out if we need it. He’s on the practice squad right now. We’ll see how he works (this week).”
“For sure, it looks like Homer is back ready to go. That really helps us. So DeeJay did a nice job last week. He and Homer, if they handle it, we’ll be in good shape.
“If we have an opportunity to get Chris back out there, we’ll do that, for sure.”
Pro Bowl cornerback Shaquill Griffin remains out for now, trying to clear the league’s concussion protocol. Carroll said Griffin’s hamstring injury he also got two games ago at Arizona is now the issue that puts his status for the Buffalo game in question.
Adams’ return will push Ryan Neal out of the fill-in role at strong safety in which he’s excelled in his first four NFL starts. Neal had his first two career interceptions in his first two quarters playing for Adams.
Carroll has said Neal has earned more playing time even upon the starter’s return. That could be as a fifth (nickel) or sixth (dime) defensive back in passing situations.
Nickel back Ugo Amadi remains out with a hamstring injury, likely through the Buffalo game.
His replacement last week D.J. Reed missed Wednesday’s practice with a new hamstring issue.
How may they keep Neal in the mix at Buffalo and beyond?
“Well, there’s some artwork to be done here to do that,” Carroll said, smiling.
“I’ve been saying to you guys we’ve been waiting to get guys back. Really part of this is to get Jamal back in the fold here so that he can start to work with Bobby again, start to establish that, (cornerback Quinton) Dunbar, guys he hasn’t had a chance to play with. He hasn’t played with (rookie linebacker) Jordyn Brooks much at all.
“The addition of Carlos (Dunlap) also gives us a chance.
“We’re taking a step forward here. I really am grateful that last week you could see that we got better last week. So we’re going to try to add onto that and keep going. Some guys will get more playing time than others. We’ll work that out as the week goes on.
“Right now, Jamal is just practicing for the first time in a month. I don’t know what to tell you, although he looks great running around and should be OK We’ll have to figure that out. We’ll have to weigh in how we mix the guys in the rotations.”
This story was originally published November 5, 2020 at 7:25 AM.
