Jamal Adams has 2nd surgery. Pete Carroll says he doesn’t know his return date to Seahawks
Jamal Adams has had another shoulder surgery.
It remains to be seen if he will be back on the field for the start of next season.
That’s the Seahawks’ hope. It’s why the Pro Bowl safety has his second operation to fix torn labrum in his shoulder in 11 months now, with five games remaining in Seattle’s 4-8 season.
But coach Pete Carroll wasn’t saying Friday whether or when Adams will be back in his defense.
“I don’t have those dates for you right now. I don’t know that,” Carroll said before his team got on its charter flight to Texas for its game Sunday at Houston (2-10).
Carroll said surgeons took extra effort in the surgery this week to stabilize the left shoulder that Adams has now shredded and had repaired twice in the two seasons since Seattle traded two first-round draft choices to the New York Jets to get him. They then signed him to a new four-year $70 million contract.
“Just the early indications are they really worked hard to make sure that this is going to be secure and all that and took some steps to do that,” Carroll said. “I haven’t talked to him yet since the surgery, but we got really good reports on what they did.”
Carroll said Wednesday the reports were this labrum tear was not as bad as the one Adams had late in the 2020 season that also required a similar operation. Thus the coach said there is less concern about Adams now being more susceptible to a third such injury in the same shoulder.
Earlier this week, Adams sought a second opinion regarding the need for another surgery. That opinion agreed with the first.
Carroll said Adams was “rocked” by that realization.
Adams, 26, has had his first two interceptions for Seattle this season. He’s been in pass coverage more and blitzing at less than half the rate he blitzed in 2020, when he set an NFL record for defensive backs with 9 1/2 sacks. He has no sacks this season.
“We’re losing all of the fire that he brings, the explosive plays,” Carroll said. “He’s had a couple of picks, and he’s been doing everything — except for that we haven’t gotten him the sacks that he had a year ago. Other than that, he’s been playing really hard, tough, and he has a lot of energy for us. He’s been very positive.”
Ryan Neal will start and fill in Adams at strong safety Sunday, for the fifth time in two seasons.
“First off, I do want to say, you hate seeing something like this happen to somebody who works extremely hard at their craft, gives it everything, is very passionate,” Neal said. “To have that happened to him again, it’s something that’s a big blow. Losing a special guy like that who means a lot to everybody on the team.
“Unfortunately, it’s the second time this has happened, in kind of similar fashion, which is crazy.”
Schematically, the Seahawks are likely to change slightly without Adams. Neal is usually the team’s sixth, dime defensive back in obvious passing situations. Last weekend after Adams hurt his shoulder making a tackle in the second quarter in the Seahawks’ win over San Francisco, the defense played less dime than the 10-20 times per game Neal had been in that role this season. They played more nickel with fifth defensive back Ugo Amadi in situations where they likely would have gone dime with Adams, Amadi and Neal.
If they want to use six defensive backs against Houston and Plan C quarterback Davis Mills Sunday — and, more likely, next week at the Los Angeles Rams — Carroll and defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. could move cornerback D.J. Reed inside. Reed has played there in past seasons. Bless Austin could replace Reed outside at cornerback in obvious passing situations. Austin, a former Jets starter, has played some left cornerback recently for Seattle. He alternated in there for Sidney Jones for nine plays last weekend against the 49ers.
Neal, formerly undrafted out of Southern Illinois and cut four times by three NFL teams (Philadelphia, Atlanta, Seattle), was part of Seattle’s goal-line stand in the final seconds against San Francisco last weekend. That secured a 30-23 victory, just the Seahawks’ second win in two months.
“For me, it’s just the same thing,” he said. “Step in. Be accountable, be there for the people around me, be there for my team, the defense, the coaches. Everything.
“Of course, it’s an opportunity for me, but it isn’t about me. It’s about everybody else and how can we keep things rolling in the direction we’ve got it. My whole mindset is step in, do my job, do it to the best of my ability to help us win games. That’s just how I’m looking at it.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2021 at 4:30 PM.
