Seahawks’ D showed creativity with Adams — can it continue after his injury?
Sep 14, 2022, 3:16 PM
The Seahawks walked away from Monday’s clash against the Denver Broncos with a 17-16 win, but they also left with questions on defense as safety Jamal Adams was injured in the second quarter and didn’t return.
Jamal Adams lost just as Seahawks show they would use him properly
Adams injured his knee and was carted off, and he made a big impact that caught former NFL receiver Michael Bumpus’ eye, as he explained in his latest video breakdown for Seattle Sports’ YouTube channel.
Adams is a three-time All-Pro who has made most of his impact close to the line of scrimmage, especially as a blitzer. But Adams was used as a more traditional deep safety last season and made a lot fewer splash plays.
Bumpus, who hosts Bump and Stacy on Seattle Sports 710 AM, noticed that the Seahawks were being much more creative on defense with Adams in the first half prior to his injury. Bumpus said the Seahawks took a linebacker off the field and used Adams as a linebacker instead. That was notable as Seattle then added another safety to the defense in order to still have two deep defenders. Over the last two seasons, when Adams was used around the line of scrimmage, that often meant free safety Quandre Diggs was the lone man on the back end.
That was the kind of look the defense showed when Adams got hurt. On that play, Adams blitzed Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson on third down and forced an incompletion, but he came up injured and left the game.
But Bumpus was encouraged by what he saw from Adams and the Seahawks defense before the injury occurred as it allowed Adams to do what he does best.
“He’s OK in the back end, but he’s better in the box. And I saw Clint Hurtt understand Jamal and put him in positions to succeed,” he said.
But now that Adams is hurt, can the Seahawks continue to have wrinkles like that on defense with reserve safeties Josh Jones and Ryan Neal presumably getting more playing time? Bump asked that key question and explained why he’s still excited about the creativity the defense showed under Hurtt in his first game as a defensive play caller.
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