NFL fines Seahawks’ Jamal Adams $50,000 for incident with concussion advisor in Cincinnati
Jamal Adams has issues, multiple, with the NFL’s concussion consultants.
He didn’t get fined for the first one. He did for a second one.
The league has fined the Seahawks safety $50,000 for yelling at and contacting a concussion consultant on the sidelines after teammate Jake Bobo got hit near the head during Seattle’s loss at Cincinnati last weekend.
CBS Sports first reported the fine Friday. It cited a letter the NFL sent to Adams this week that said he “interfered with orderly administration of the game when the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant (UNC) was walking with Seahawks wide receiver Jake Bobo to the blue medical tent for evaluation of a concussion.”
A league source told The News Tribune the NFL reviewed video of Adams’ incident with the concussion consultant on the sideline, beyond any broadcast video from game-telecaster CBS. The additional video was definitive in showing the incident the neurotrauma consultant reported to the league.
The source said the fine was not related to Adams berating a neurotrauma consultant on the sidelines after he was concussed in Seattle’s game Oct. 2 at the New York Giants. It was not related to an incident Adams had in 2019 with an NFL concussion spotter while the safety was playing for the Jets.
Adams was gone from the Seahawks’ locker room by the time the media was permitted in following Friday’s practice and coach Pete Carroll’s comments.
“There was some exchange there that we’re totally regarding and respecting,” Carroll said. “But it’s a league issue. So there’s nothing we can do about it, about whatever.
“We’re going to support whatever the league says we’ve got to do here, and I know that Jamal will take care of it.”
Bobo caught a 20-yard pass from quarterback Geno Smith before Cincinnati’s Dax Hill leveled him with a hit above the shoulders near the head. One of the league’s “red-hat” concussion monitors then alerted the referee to stop the game and remove Bobo from it, to the sideline for evaluation for a possible concussion.
Bobo went into the blue observation tent with the neurotrauma consultant and team medical personnel. He emerged from it a few minutes later. Bobo returned to play the remainder of Seattle’s game against the Bengals.
In the Seahawks’ game before that, at the Giants, Adams was concussed. He then yelled at and confronted the red-hat neurotrauma consultant on the sidelines just outside the blue observation tent behind Seattle’s bench.
That game was Adams’ first in 13 months, since he tore his quadriceps tendon in Seattle’s 2022 opener. He said before it he’d been in “a dark place” while out so long, questioning whether he should retire with his latest injury.
Adams made two tackles in his nine plays against New York. On the ninth snap, Adams’ second tackle, the knee of Giants quarterback Daniel Jones hit Adams in the top and side of his helmet as the safety was falling to the ground making the open-field stop. Adams got to his feet, wobbly. Seahawks trainers came off the sideline to assist him out of the game.
He went into the blue medical observation tent behind Seattle’s bench for observation. An unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant jointly assigned by the NFL and the NFL Players’ Association, conspicuous by his red league cap, joined Adams and Seahawks doctors and trainers inside the tent.
Adams briefly came out of the tent with the concussion advisor then went back in with him. A minute later they emerged again, with Adams yelling and pointing at the league’s man. He had to be separated from him by Seahawks staffers.
They walked Adams behind the bench and around the sideline, behind the end zone and to the Seahawks locker room. Then came the announcement in the press box that Adams was out for the remainder of the game with a concussion.
The three-time Pro Bowl and $70 million safety issued an apology online two days later, during Seattle’s subsequent bye week. That was after news broke the NFL was considering punishing Adams.
The league ultimately did not fine or sanction Adams for that incident.
“First and foremost, I want to apologize to the OG. You did everything right when you realized I was concussed, I apologize for any negative energy I brought your way,” Adams posted on his account they used to call Twitter Oct. 4. “Watching the replay, I am thankful for your patience knowing I wasn’t myself in that moment. You’re a real one and you serve a great purpose that benefits the NFL and so many players. Prioritizing player’s health is essential. Much respect to you!”
The league has neurotrauma professionals as spotters in the press box who have direct communication with the referee and have the ability to stop a game to aid a player the spotter believe may be concussed. The NFL also has independent doctors on the field, on the sideline, to supervise actions and evaluations following a suspected concussion.
After the Giants game, those in the Seahawks’ locker room familiar with the league’s system for spotting possible concussions weren’t sure what the NFL might do about a player confronting one of the people it employs to protect concussed players from re-entering games.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll thought everyone, including the NFL, should give Adams a break for his actions that night.
“Yeah, he got hit in the head,” Carroll said. “Whatever happened under the pressure of the game — and he had a concussion, he had a legit concussion, and all. So, I think you have to give him a little slack there.
“I know he apologized for stuff. I don’t even know that he remembers what he said. He was knocked pretty good. But he’s come back out of it, and I think he’d done the very classy thing in how he’s handled it from that point.”
Adams was cleared from the league’s concussion protocol last week. Last weekend at Cincinnati he played his first full game since September 12, 2022.
He’s set to make his third start this season Sunday when the Seahawks (3-2) host the Arizona Cardinals (1-5) in an NFC West game.
This story was originally published October 20, 2023 at 10:49 AM.
