-
Brady HendersonESPN
SEATTLE – The Seahawks will not know if they will have strong All-Pro security Jamal Adams for Saturday’s wild-card clash with the Los Angeles Rams until game day, according to coach Pete Carroll.
Adams injured his left shoulder in the fourth quarter of the Seattle regular season final against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. He returned briefly, then finished the game on the touchline. Carroll said after the game that the initial word from the Seahawks’ medical team was that Adams could play this weekend, but seemed to retreat from initial optimism on Tuesday.
“He will be working during the week and seeing what he can do and how well he is doing,” Carroll said on Tuesday, just before the Seahawks’ first practice of the week. “We will have to wait all the way until the day of the game to find out.”
Adams, acquired in a successful negotiation with the New York Jets last summer, led the Seahawks with 9.5 sacks in the regular season, an NFL record for a defensive defense. This despite having lost four games with a groin injury. He returned at week 9 and, a week later, suffered an injury to his right shoulder, which he had been playing for, as well as two broken fingers on his left hand.
After the Seahawks got a post-season spot in Week 15, Adams screamed with excitement during his post-game video conference about going into the playoffs for the first time in his career. He lit a victory cigar on camera after the Seahawks beat the Rams a week later for the NFC West title.
“He didn’t make the playoffs and he wants to be a part of it and all of that, so it kind of blew him away,” Carroll told ESPN 710 Seattle on Monday when talking about Adams’ latest shoulder injury. “He’s very emotional and everything, and he’s going to deal with it. We’ll see what happens (Monday) and in the next few days, see how he feels and everything. But he got hurt, and he dealt with it, he wanted to go back inside. We had to take off his helmet and all that behind the scenes because he wanted to fight his guys. So let’s see what happens. I can’t tell you now. I don’t know. “
An All-Pro in 2019, Adams was recently nominated for his third consecutive Pro Bowl.
Ryan Neal assumed strong security when Adams was injured against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3, and sealed Seattle’s victory with an interception by Dak Prescott in the final zone. The undeveloped free agent of 2018 started the next four games and had another interception.
“We have a lot of confidence in Ryan because of the way he played,” said Carroll. “… He showed us that he plays very hard, he is tough, he is an ace, he is very aggressive in his style of play … So he will be ready to go if we need him and we will be happy to play with him . “
Carroll also said that the defensive tackle Jarran Reed is feeling “much better” than the Sunday after the game. Carroll called this a reason for optimism.
“We will be very careful with him during the week and see how he goes from day to day,” said Carroll.
In addition, Carroll expects the running back Carlos Hyde to return this week after losing the 49ers game due to a disease unrelated to COVID. And the new defensive side Darrell Taylor trained Tuesday for the first time; the choice of Seahawks in the second round was on the list of non-football-related injuries throughout the season because of a college leg injury.