Jamal Adams on facing Tom Brady: 'Opportunity of a lifetime'

[Gas2No99]

Jamal Adams on facing Tom Brady: 'Opportunity of a lifetime'

 

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Safety Jamal Adams is a tough grader. He gave himself "below an F" for his performance last week against the Cleveland Browns, and now he has to rebound against perhaps the greatest quarterback in history, Tom Brady.

"It's the opportunity of a lifetime," the New York Jets' rookie said Thursday.

Adams and fellow rookie Marcus Maye will be under the microscope Sunday against the New England Patriots. The two young safeties -- combined age: 45 -- will try to match wits with the 40-year-old quarterback, who gets fooled as often as Bill Belichick tells a joke.

Brady is a master at manipulating safeties with his eyes, making them go the wrong way with a simple look-off. He operates a sophisticated offense that can confuse seasoned defenders, let alone a couple of newbies.

The Jets' coaches have tried to downplay the safety tandem's lack of experience, insisting they'll be fine if they play within the structure of the defense. Translation: They don't want Adams and Maye to get caught up in the moment and lose their poise.

"They put stress on all 11 guys over there, it's not just the rookie safeties," coach Todd Bowles said of the Patriots. "They constantly press the button, and if you're not good at your fundamentals and your technique, they're going to find it."

Growing up, Maye often picked Brady as his "Madden" quarterback. On Sunday, it'll be real life, not a video game.

"Now that I'm on the opposite end of it," Maye said, "it's going to be a great test."

Maye made one of the biggest plays in last week's win, intercepting Browns rookie DeShone Kizer at the 2-yard line. His partner didn't have a good game. Adams missed a key tackle and got beat in coverage on a 21-yard touchdown reception by rookie tight end David Njoku, who made a diving grab.

"I'm my biggest critic," Adams said. "I don't like to give up touchdowns and definitely don't like to get caught on it, so for my grade that I give myself, it's below an F."

You have to admire his accountability. Instead of making excuses, as some players would do, he owned his mistakes.

 

"He's more hard on himself than anybody," Bowles said. "He just likes to have a good, all-around game. As a good player, trying to be a great player, you have to clean up things every week. I think that's going to be a constant thing with him. That's what's pushing him to be great."

Adams figures to be involved in the coverage plan for tight end Rob Gronkowski. This is one of the reasons why the Jets made him the sixth overall pick. After being drafted, Adams said one of his first thoughts was Gronkowski, whom he will face twice a year.

"He's a wonderful talent, everybody knows," he said. "He's a Hall of Famer, as I call him, a big-bodied guy, can definitely stretch the field. He can definitely run all the routes. We definitely have to get after him."

[AFJF]

Re-watched that TD and Njoku actually shoved Adams away from him mid-route to get separation.  Should've drawn a flag but refs missed it or let it slide. 

[DetroitRed]

Who is the reporter?  That is a crummy football article

[Charlie Brown]

This guy Adams is everything you want in a player look at the accountability, just amazing!!

On a totally side note that is what disturbed me the most with Mark Sanchez no matter how poorly he played he would always say "we need to improve " "we win as a team and lose as a team" or "it's a learning process for all of us" which is nice coach speak in a vacuum, but for me, Sanchez being the QB, it showed zero accountability from the most important position on the field; zero, and I think that attitude helped unfortunately to eventually derail his career. 

[nyjunc]

2 hours ago, Charlie Brown said:

This guy Adams is everything you want in a player look at the accountability, just amazing!!

On a totally side note that is what disturbed me the most with Mark Sanchez no matter how poorly he played he would always say "we need to improve " "we win as a team and lose as a team" or "it's a learning process for all of us" which is nice coach speak in a vacuum, but for me, Sanchez being the QB, it showed zero accountability from the most important position on the field; zero, and I think that attitude helped unfortunately to eventually derail his career. 

that couldn't be more incorrect, he NEVER threw his teammates under the bus and always took the blame whether he deserved it or not. here's one example:  http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-jets-sanchez-critical-of-play-ready-to-rebound-2010nov03-story.html

 

I'm with you on Adams, I think we have a superstar in the making a real culture changing player but no need to knock former players w/ stuff that isn't true.

[drsamuel84]

He had some trouble against Njoku last week so I'll be interested to see how he rebounds against a stud like Gronk. 

[ZachEY]

3 hours ago, Charlie Brown said:

This guy Adams is everything you want in a player look at the accountability, just amazing!!

On a totally side note that is what disturbed me the most with Mark Sanchez no matter how poorly he played he would always say "we need to improve " "we win as a team and lose as a team" or "it's a learning process for all of us" which is nice coach speak in a vacuum, but for me, Sanchez being the QB, it showed zero accountability from the most important position on the field; zero, and I think that attitude helped unfortunately to eventually derail his career. 

Sanchez always took accountability.  Was about the only thing he did do well.  It was Pennington who never did... "Outside of two or three throws, I think I played well."

[smaxor5]

4 hours ago, DetroitRed said:

Who is the reporter?  That is a crummy football article

This reads like Manish mainly because it sucks and has no actual insight.