Jamal Adams: ‘I was in a dark place,’ thought of retiring before long return to Seahawks
Jamal Adams is back.
From what he says was a dark place, returning under what he loves best: The brightest lights.
“It’s been a roller coaster, man. Real life happened,” the Seahawks’ three-time Pro Bowl safety said Friday, three days before he plays for the first time in more than a year, in a prime-time showcase on his former New York Jets’ home field against the Giants.
“It’s where the stars were born,” Adams said.
Monday night, Adams will play his first game since he tore his quadriceps tendon and injured his knee Sept. 12, 2022. He planted his leg in the turf while his momentum and body went the other way blitzing Russell Wilson early in Seattle’s opener against Denver last season.
“It was devastating,” he said. “I thought about retiring. ... I was in a dark place.
“Definitely in a lot of dark times, as far as just getting away from the game of football, getting away from people. At the time, wasn’t really talking to many people. Wasn’t answering my phone.”
Why?
“I had to start over, man. You know what I mean?” Adams said. “That’s why I call the ‘rebuild.’ This whole time I had to rebuild, start from the ground up and just work my way up.”
Not from football. From doing life’s most basic tasks.
“You know, when you tear your quad, you get a lot of built-up scar tissue in your knee,” Adams said. “So I was in a straight cast for, probably, about 20-plus weeks.
“I couldn’t (go to the bathroom) by myself. I couldn’t do anything by myself. I couldn’t be independent, you know what I mean? Couldn’t get out (of) bed. Couldn’t shower myself.”
Adams raised his right hand high, above his head.
“You talk about coming up here, then coming back down,” he said.
He dropped his hand by his side.
“Being in a wheelchair, it’s a different ball game,” he said.
“Mentally, I’m a lot stronger.”
And, he says, enriched.
“I’m just grateful to be back here,” he said.
“It’s been hard, man. I love the game like no other. You know, when you lose something that you really, really love, it takes a toll on you. Obviously, mentally, I had to get over that, had to adjust. That was just life. ... I had to talk to myself, mentally.”
Adams said during his 13 months of grinding rehabilitation in Plano, Texas, then the Seahawks’ facility in Renton, of watching football and “hearing all the chit-chatter,” wondering where he was and when (or if) he would get back, he learned a lot about himself.
“This injury, it just didn’t teach me more about football. It taught me about life, what my purpose is, and just how I go about my business,” he said.
“Throughout the whole process, I already kind of knew. This was my mindset and my goal, was to get back for week four.
“Obviously, it’s a special place for me, being back in New York, being back home. So I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Adams said he knew after not practicing all training camp throughout August that he would need at least three weeks to get into football shape. The Seahawks did that by incrementally increasing his practice load. He started with morning walk-throughs only. He progressed this month to scout-team defense against the starting offense in the main afternoon practices.
Last week was the first time he fully practiced with his own defense.
Throughout that walk-up, Adams absolutely knew who the week-four opponent was — and where that game was: New York, at MetLife Stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands. That’s where he starred from 2017-19 entering the NFL with the Jets as a heralded sixth pick in the draft and becoming an All-Pro safety.
“Obviously, I knew week four was going to be a special moment, just being back in MetLife,” Adams said.
He’s had multiple injuries and surgeries, from head to toe. He’s missed 29-1/2 games in the four seasons since Seattle traded two first-round draft choices to the Jets him then signed him in the summer of 2021 to the richest contract for a safety in NFL history, $70 million.
“Obviously, it’s not my go-to. It’s not what I like to have on my name, as far as injuries,” he said. “But it is what it is. ...
“I look forward to the future.”
How they’ll use Jamal Adams
Adams got injured blitzing in last season’s opener — one of the first and only plays when the Seahawks used what they will employ Monday night at New York, what they’ve been planning to use for two seasons: Adams in three-safety alignments as something of a new base defense.
This offseason, as Adams recuperated, the Seahawks signed former Giants captain Julian Love to a two-year contract worth up to $12 million. That wasn’t just for him to be the insurance policy and starter as Adams returned. That was for Love to be the deeper, coverage safety with Pro Bowl veteran Quandre Diggs.
That is to allow Adams to play closer to the line of scrimmage, doing what he does best: blitzing, pressuring quarterbacks and running backs, tackling “in the box” rather than covering in the open field.
That will improve what still has been a weakness for Seattle: its pass rush. The Seahawks have five sacks through three games.
They won’t play three safeties at the same time all the time. Coach Pete Carroll and defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt will still employ a nickel, slot cornerback as their fifth defensive back. That will take some snaps away from Love, who’s played 95% of the defensive snaps through three games and a sore hamstring.
“It’s Jamal Adams. That’s the guy. My snaps might look a little different, but our defense will look a little more complex,” Love said. “He brings a lot to the table. He’s been practicing hard, has been meeting hard. It’s going to look a little different going forward, and we’re trying to take that step.
“I think we still have areas that we need to climb on defense and him coming back will allow us to do that.”
That’s how he played in his Seahawks debut season of 2020 — and set the NFL record for a defensive back with 9-1/2 sacks.
Monday night, that’s how Adams will get to play again.
“I’m super-excited, man,” he said. “The sky’s the limit. We have a lot of super-talented guys on this team, definitely on the defense, that can make a lot of plays. We’ve got a lot of speed, a lot of power, a lot of swagger, a lot of juice.”
That’s the same thing top rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon, the fifth pick in this year’s draft, said Adams is bringing to Seattle’s defense.
“He’s going to bring a lot, a lot of swag, a lot of juice,” Witherspoon said.
He will make his third NFL start Monday night.
“I’m just ready to go out there and see him play live-action in front of me,” Witherspoon said of Adams.
“It’s going to be lit.”
This story was originally published September 29, 2023 at 4:39 PM.
