Jamal Adams, New York Jets. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Jamal Adams will be at New York Jets training camp, even if he’s mad.
Safety Jamal Adams is the New York Jets‘ best player, but he doesn’t feel he’s getting the love.
Adams is a two-time Pro Bowler and is coming off an All-Pro season with Gang Green. While he has said previously he wanted to be a Jet for life, it’s been pulling teeth for him to get a straight answer out of anyone in the Jets organization, top on down. You need to read Manish Mehta’s last feature in the New York Daily News about the latest zaniness emanating from this AFC East team.
Mehta reports that Jets general manager Joe Douglas, “has indeed conveyed his willingness to move the team’s best player if the right deal presents itself after intense acrimony this offseason. However, the Jets still have not given Adams’ camp permission to discuss trade parameters with interested teams.”
“It’s definitely mixed feelings,” said Adams. “But at the end of the day, my happiness is more important. I know my worth. I’m going to stand on my beliefs. I’m going to stand on who I am as a person. And I’m not ever going to change who I am for somebody who’s judging me. Either you accept me for who I am and you work with me and support me or you don’t. It’s okay if you don’t.”
Frustrations are boiling over for Jamal Adams, but he’ll still be at camp.
Adams hinted that Jets head coach Adam Gase is a poor communicator who doesn’t believe in confrontation and will defer to his assistant coaches to handle tricky situations. Adams added he hasn’t spoken with Gase since his exit interview at the end of the 2019 NFL season on Dec. 30. How does a head coach not communicate with his best player for over seven months?
“I don’t feel like he’s the right leader for this organization to reach the Promised Land,” said Adams. “As a leader, what really bothers me is that he doesn’t have a relationship with everybody in the building.”
“At the end of the day, he doesn’t address the team,” said Adams. “If there’s a problem in the locker room, he lets another coach address the team. If we’re playing s****y and we’re losing, he doesn’t address the entire team as a group at halftime. He’ll walk out of the locker room and let another coach handle it.”
He went on to say Douglas has been talking out of both sides of his mouth when it comes to contract negotiations. Adams had his fifth-year option exercised for the 2021 campaign. He has two more years under contract as a first-round pick out of LSU. New York can franchise tag him ahead of his sixth NFL season in 2022. Adams is not a fan of Douglas’ negotiating inconsistencies.
“Why would Joe come out and say, ‘We want to make Jamal a Jet for life?’” Adams said. “Why would you say that and then not even give me an offer?… Don’t B.S. me. I’m a straightforward guy. You don’t have to B.S. me, because I’m going to keep it honest.”
Adams understands the NFL is a business, first and foremost. While he does seem to be carrying perpetual frustration around him regarding Gase, Douglas and an absentee owner who is getting himself in trouble overseas as the United States’ ambassador to the United Kingdom, Adams wants it to be clear he has only love for the Jets fanbase and will show up for his teammates.
“I’m showing up for my teammates,” said Adams. “Obviously my love and passion for the game is very simple. You just turn on the tape and watch. No matter if we’re winning or we’re losing or we’re getting blown out, I’m still the same guy. I won’t change my tempo as far as how I play on the field. I’ll never slow down.”
“At the end of the day, I’m trying to be the greatest player to ever play the game at my position. Or at least one of them. That’s my goal. I won’t let anybody knock me off that goal.”
So far, Adams has called out Gase, Douglas and owner Woody Johnson in recent days. Going after the holy triumvirate of the Jets these days is a bold strategy to go about getting a long-term extension. Then again, it’s a great way to burn a bridge and get traded out of town. This behavior from any and all sides would not be tolerated in a well-functioning professional organization.
Adams plans to play his tail off for his teammates and the fans, and that’s about it with the Jets.