The Seattle Seahawks added a star this offseason, and it came in All-Pro safety Jamal Adams.
Adams, the No. 6 overall pick by the New York Jets in 2017, has played 17 games in the AFC East, including an 0-6 record against the New England Patriots. It’s allowed Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and receiver Julian Edelman to have some familiarity with the 24-year-old, who’s tenacious style of play has gained the respect of both.
The acquisition, though, has helped the Seahawks in a short amount of time, according to Belichick.
“I’d say they ran certainly more safety blitzes than — maybe more in that game than I’d seen in the previous year,” Belichick said the Seahawks’ Week 1 win over the Atlanta Falcons, Adams first game with the team. “That hasn’t really been a big part of Coach Carroll’s defense, but he did it in a way that it was consistent with the philosophy of what they do defensively. So, it was a change and a significant one with how disruptive Adams was on those blitzes.”
And Belichick already can see how Seattle’s new hard-hitting safety, perhaps being put in better positions than he was with the Jets, elevates the group as a whole.
“… But, in any case, I think they modified their system a little bit to take advantage of a very explosive and disruptive player, which is really just smart coaching and good utilization of personnel,” Belichick said. “I know Pete’s philosophy is always to play into his strengths, and he does a great job of that and clearly Jamal Adams is one of their strengths.
“So, they did something a little bit differently with him than what they’ve done in the past in terms of inserting him into the pressure part of their defense, but I’d say within the overall context of what they have done fundamentally for quite a long time. It’s not like they’re redesigning everything but they’re using one of their outstanding players in a very good way, and that causes problems for the offense.”
Edelman added much of the same, noting how Adams “likes to hit,” which works well with Seattle’s physical style of play.
“I mean with the addition of Adams they’ve definitely incorporated some different things here and there, but this team, they go out and they play hard football the way they play,” Edelman said. “And it gets the job done a lot of the time.”
The 1-0 Patriots will travel to the 1-0 Seahawks for “Sunday Night Football,” which is scheduled to kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Dale Zanine/USA TODAY Sports Images
