Jamal Adams, the New York Jets’ star safety, is reaching his vast potential this season and there is no doubt that he is one of the NFL’s premier defensive players.
Adams is just a few weeks removed from being trade fodder for a Jets team that was teetering on the notion that a fire sale could be in the works. But two wins over the fractured Giants and the sorry Redskins have given the Jets (3-7) some hope that they could be headed in the right direction.
Adams has stepped up his game considerably since the report that GM Joe Douglas had spoken to the Dallas Cowboys about Adams’ availability.
The Pro Bowl safety anchored a dominant defensive performance Sunday with three sacks in a 34-17 victory at FedEx Field.
With just two career interceptions on the back end, Adams now has six sacks in the three games since his public trade-deadline spat with the Jets front office. That’s more sacks than he had in his first two NFL seasons combined (5.5).
“The picks are not coming my way,†Adams said, “so I thought I’d do something different.â€
Adams’ six sacks leads all NFL defensive backs. He also has a 61-yard interception return for a touchdown this season.
Adams was the sixth overall selection out of LSU in the 2017 NFL Draft and made an immediate impact for the Jets as a rookie. In 2018, he made the Pro Bowl. His outspokenness has irritated some fans at times but his latest burst of production has won most of them over.
Against the Giants last week, Adams had two strip sacks of Giants’ rookie quarterback Daniel Jones, one of which he returned for a touchdown. He also stonewalled Jones on a 4th down quarterback sneak. The performance earned Adams AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
“It’s big, man. That’s just the goals that I set myself to go out and achieve because I just work each and every day to try and get better,†Adams said after the Redskins game. “I just want to do more, man. I feel like I’m scraping the surface. The sky is the limit. I really feel like that.â€