Seahawks’ injured Jamal Adams: ‘No question in my mind, I’m playin’...I’m full go.’
Did you really think Jamal Adams—who recently lit a victory cigar during a postgame press conference after Seattle clinched the NFC West with a win over the Rams—was going to sit this one out?
He didn’t, either.
As if there was any doubt, the Seahawks’ All-Pro safety erased it the way he does just about everything.
Decisively. And demonstrably.
“No question in my mind, I’m playin’, man,” Adams said Wednesday, after days of coach Pete Carroll and others saying Adams’ new left shoulder injury could cause him to miss his first NFL playoff game Saturday when Seattle hosts the Los Angeles Rams.
“Hey, look, as long as these legs are movin’, man. As long as my faith is with the Man upstairs, which is very strong, I’m going to be out there.
“So there was never no doubt in my mind that I wasn’t playing. So let’s get that out there.
“I’m full go.”
Adams will be playing with two injured shoulders. He hurt the other one the first time the Seahawks played the Rams, on the first play of Seattle’s loss at L.A. in mid-November. He’s played on through the injured right shoulder. Last month he broke two fingers—and played on with what he called “little casts” and heavy wrapping over his hand.
And he’ll play on through an injured right shoulder into the playoffs.
He said he is going to be wearing a harness or other protective device on the newly injured shoulder. But...
“It doesn’t matter. Whatever it takes,” he said.
“I’m a savage, bro. I’m a warrior, man. Just another obstacle. ...
“I’m full go. I’m me.”
On Tuesday, Carroll said the Seahawks would not make a determination on whether Adams would play until game day, Saturday.
“He’s going to work through the week and see what he can get done and see if he’s OK,” Carroll said Tuesday.
“We’ll have to wait all the way up to game day to figure that out.”
But the fact that the Seahawks had Adams on an online Zoom call with the media before practice Wednesday, three days before the game, was a suggestion nearly as strong as Adams’ words that he’s playing. The team typically does not permit the media to speak to injured players who are unlikely to play in that week’s game.
Adams hurt his shoulder slamming into 49ers pass-blocking back Jerick McKinnon on a blitz in the fourth quarter of the regular-season finale Sunday.
“He caught me, you know. Nice little hit, got to give it to him,” Adams said.
He tried to play on, dropping deep into coverage and staying out of contact on two more plays. But he eventually had his arm dangling at his side walked off the field to the sideline.
He missed 12 defensive snaps Sunday. Ryan Neal replaced him for most of the final plays of the game.
After he got hurt Adams went into and out of the blue observation tent behind the Seahawks’ bench so quickly it was as if he’d picked up a burger at a drive-through window. Adams then threw his helmet in frustration on the sideline after a member of the Seahawks’ medical staff told him he would not be going back into the 49ers game. That appeared to be a precaution so he can play Saturday’s playoff game.
“He had to take my helmet away. And when he took my helmet away it hurt me a little bit, because I wanted to be out there and finish, no matter what.
“But at the end of the day, it’s about this team. It’s never going to be about me.”
After the game, Carroll said Adams was hurting but trainers had told the coach Adams should be able to play against the Rams Saturday.
His fellow All-Pro in the Seahawks’ defense knew it wasn’t going to be easy to keep Adams from making his playoff debut Saturday.
“Jamal is a fighter,” linebacker Bobby Wagner said Tuesday. “Jamal is a very high-energy person and a person who is going to do everything he can to get out there on the field.”
The former New York Jet traded to this new football life in July reiterated how excited he is to finally be playing in a playoff game.
Even with no good arms.
“I’m excited for this opportunity,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what obstacle is thrown my way, I always figure it out. ...
“Listen, I’m OK. I’m looking forward to it. I’m not going to be limited, to anything. I’m full go. I’m full energy. I’m me. I’m going out there to continue to make plays and to continue to help the team win.
“That’s what I’m about.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 2:00 PM.
