Arrow-right Camera

Color Scheme

Subscribe now
Seattle Seahawks

Jamal Adams activated off PUP list, but Seahawks will take it slow

Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams walks off the field after a 30-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in a NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Lumen Field in Seattle on Jan. 9, 2021.  (Getty Images)
By Bob Condotta Seattle Times

RENTON, Wash. – By the NFL’s definition, Seahawks safety Jamal Adams is physically able to perform.

That became official Thursday when the team announced Adams had passed a physical and was activated off the Physically Unable to Perform list, roughly 11-and-a-half months after suffering a torn quadriceps tendon in a game Sept. 12 against the Denver Broncos.

When Adams will actually perform on a football field remains in question.

Being taken off the PUP list means Adams can practice and take part in pre-practice walk-throughs. For now, he will be limited to walk-throughs as the team eases him back in.

The Seahawks did not hold a walk-through Thursday. Adams was present at the beginning of practice but did not step between the lines, wearing a baseball cap instead of a helmet.

He could take part in a walk-through Friday before the team leaves for Saturday’s preseason game at Green Bay, finally returning to the field in a limited capacity.

To coach Pete Carroll, that would be “a good step for him.”

Carroll said the Seahawks aren’t concerned about whether Adams will be ready for Week 1 against the Rams on Sept. 10 at Lumen Field. They are focused on having prepared for the season as a whole.

“That pressure does not exist,” Carroll said of getting Adams back for Week 1. “I don’t feel that. We’ll work with him, the doctors, the trainers and all that. That’s what’s important to me. I don’t care [when] it is. When he gets back, I just want him to feel right, confident and believe in the process that got him here. We’re not going to rush him at all.”

As Carroll noted, the Seahawks will have two weeks before the season opener after returning from Green Bay.

“We look at these weeks, and they go by quickly now,” Carroll said. “If he would continue to stay on the PUP he wouldn’t be able to get in any of our football work. So he’ll jump into the routine like we’ve been doing with our guys, like walk-throughs and things like that, so that he can start to break the huddle with the fellas, make the calls, get aligned and make adjustments.

“Get his mind rolling in that direction. And there’s one way to do it [by being on the field]. This is a good time for him to pop back. He’s ready to go, and he’s working really hard. Again I tell you guys, if you watched him work out you would never know there was anything wrong, but he’s still trying to make his strengths and get everything up to max. We’re going to do it perfectly. We’re going to wait it out and make sure that we really take care of him.”

The Seahawks hope Adams shows progress similar to others who began camp on the PUP list, were taken off it to take part in walk-throughs but showed quickly they were ready for more. That includes linebacker Jordyn Brooks and cornerback Riq Woolen, who have been doing full team drills for the past week, though each was also coming off injuries different from Adams’ (Brooks an ACL and Woolen an MCL).

“To see Jordyn out here and now taking full speed reps – and he’s comfortable with it, he was able to work his way back into it – is exactly how we picture it for Jamal as well,” Carroll said.

The Seahawks hope to get a clearer picture of how the secondary could come together with everyone healthy.

Adams started the 2020 and 2021 seasons at strong safety alongside free safety Quandre Diggs, and he did so again for the Denver game in which he was hurt.

The Seahawks signed free agent Julian Love as insurance while Adams recovers, and he has started at safety in practice alongside Diggs. They also hoped to use a package featuring three safeties extensively last season in which Adams would fill the role of a linebacker, playing closer to the line of scrimmage, which the Seahawks hoped would make good use of his pass-rush skills. Adams had 9.5 sacks in 2020, an NFL record for a defensive back, but was held to zero in 2021.

Adams was injured on a play in which he lined up in the box and rushed quarterback Russell Wilson.

With Adams back, the Seahawks can see what those packages would look like with Love, who has significant experience working in the box.

The Seahawks hope first-round draft pick Devon Witherspoon will return to full practice next week after missing what will end up being all three preseason games because of a hamstring injury (he has done walk-throughs this week). Witherspoon was working as the starting nickel, a spot that for now has reverted to 2022 starter Coby Bryant. Woolen has the starting spot at right cornerback, they have an ongoing battle on the left side between Tre Brown and Michael Jackson.

That means that with just over two weeks until the regular season, only two of five regular starting secondary jobs are set.

Carroll said such uncertainty – which he didn’t have to worry about much during the Legion of Boom era when most spots stayed set in stone – isn’t a concern.

“I’m not really worried about that,” he said. “I know that could be something because we have a lot of depth. The different guys that are moving through there are well-equipped. It’s been kind of fluid so far; I’m fine with it. You’re going to see Riq go with the [starters] in the next couple of weeks, solidly in there, and we’ll see how that goes. Michael and Tre have done a fantastic job, and so they deserve to play also. We’re working it out, it’s a good situation.”