Seahawks Assistants Sean Desai, Karl Scott Excited For Chance to Coach 'Unique' Jamal Adams
RENTON, WA - An elite blitzing safety who excels as a pass rusher and stopping the run in the box, Jamal Adams possesses a skill set unlike any other defensive back in the NFL. He can be an absolute true game wreaker when utilized properly, as evidenced by his three consecutive All-Pro selections from 2018 to 2020.
But since being acquired from the Jets in exchange for two first round picks two years ago, even with him earning a third straight All-Pro nod in his first year with the team, the Seahawks have struggled to consistently maximize Adams' unique talents within in the confines of their defense. While there have been obvious flashes of brilliance, more often than not, it has felt the coaching staff has tried fitting a square peg into a round hole.
On one hand, Adams broke an NFL record with 9.5 sacks in only 12 games in 2020, accomplishing the historic feat playing at well below 100 percent. He also picked off two passes in a three-game span late last season with the team running more two-deep coverages. But on the other hand, his play in coverage in general has been a roller coaster ride since arriving in the Pacific Northwest and he didn't register a single sack in 13 games last season with the team cutting down on his blitzing opportunities.
As Adams will attest, injuries have certainly been a factor in his somewhat erratic play. Along with undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder for the second straight year, he also had two of his fingers fused this spring after dislocating them 12 times by his count. He indicated he will never be able to "bend them fully" again, but the procedure needed to be done after what he went through the past two years.
“Man, it’s been a toll, but it’s temporary, you know what I mean?" Adams told reporters during Seattle's mandatory minicamp. "Sometimes you go through things in life that you really didn’t want to go through, but at the end of the day, it made me stronger mentally and physically. I’m just looking forward to the challenge.”
Speaking of challenges, the Seahawks cleaned house on defense after a disappointing 7-10 season that culminated in a last place finish in the NFC West. While the decision to fire defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. and defensive backs coach Andre Curtis didn't solely revolve around failing to maximize Adams' skills, personnel-related issues were an undeniable problem that contributed to sluggish starts each of the past two years, leading to a substantial coaching staff shakeup.
As part of a new-look staff under defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt, who was elevated from defensive line coach in February, former Bears defensive coordinator Sean Desai and former Vikings secondary coach Karl Scott decided to join the Seahawks in large part due to their adoration for coach Pete Carroll. Both men acknowledged they looked up to the 70-year old coach and studied him extensively as they climbed the coaching ladder themselves.
But away from Carroll's presence, Desai and Scott undoubtedly were drawn to Seattle by the allure of coaching Adams and Quandre Diggs, two of the premier safeties in the game with multiple Pro Bowls on their respective resumes. As both coaches noted, their positional interchangeability - or versatility to play either safety spot in a pinch at a high level - makes them invaluable chess pieces to deploy against opposing offensive attacks and creates schematic flexibility.
"Obviously, you like guys to be interchangeable, do the same things," Scott explained. "No matter what part of the field you're talking about, some guys are stronger and some guys are weaker in their game and what not, but I think with those two, we can get done what we want to get done because at the end of the day, both those guys are true football players."
As Scott elaborated, one-dimensional safeties who play far better at one position than the other can serve as a detriment to a defense against top quarterbacks and/or well-coached offensive units. The lack of versatility can immediately be used against them with the offense dictating the player out of his comfort zone.
"That's kind of what we want to stay away from, being able to pinpoint exactly where No. 6 is and where No. 33 is, and really make it hard on quarterbacks after the snap," Scott added.
In the case of Adams, whether fair or not, he's been given the label of a box safety and that characterization has been further highlighted in his first two years in Seattle due to inconsistent performance, particularly on the back end in coverage.
In 2020, according to Pro Football Focus, opposing quarterbacks completed 75 percent of their passes against Adams for 446 yards, three touchdowns, and a 118.3 passer rating, often picking him out and attacking him in coverage. With more two-deep looks implemented as last year progressed, his numbers improved across the board, as he allowed only a 57.8 percent completion rate, two touchdowns, and a 69.9 passer rating, though PFF still docked him with a 47.4 coverage grade.
As a blitzer, Adams produced a pressure on 34 percent of his 106 pass rushing attempts in 2020, displaying remarkable efficiency hunting down quarterbacks. While he didn't log a single sack last year, much of that had to do with lack of chances and the attention opposing offenses gave him play-to-play. Sent only 51 times all season, or less than half of his total the year prior, he generated a mere seven pressures and a 13 percent pressure rate.
On multiple occasions last season, Carroll acknowledged Seattle couldn't build its defense around Adams blitzing, saying after a Week 2 loss to Tennessee that the team couldn't "do it a lot." And as the season progressed, the staff continued to send him as an extra rusher sparingly with minimal success.
This, of course, creates a conundrum for the defensive play caller when the safety's best asset may be his blitzing prowess rather than his coverage in two-deep shells. But when asked about the challenges of trying to build a system around Adams' unique strengths in particular, Desai opted for a different word choice.
"I don't think challenges is the right word, to be honest," Desai answered. "I think it creates excitement to be able to work with such a special talent like that. That's kind of what I prefer to hang my hat on, to be able to work with unique guys and put guys in position to go make plays and optimize their talent. That's what coaching is. You've gotta take the best out of each individual and make them the best that they can be and that's what we're gonna look to do with Jamal and all the other guys back there."
What Desai, Scott, and Hurtt will have to figure out, of course, is how to balance Adams' aggressive nature and pass rushing savvy with his strengths and weaknesses in coverage. With the team expected to play more two-deep coverages and man-to-man switching towards a 3-4 defense, the scheme should, in theory, be catered well to playing off what he does best in all facets.
So far, Adams has enjoyed his interactions with Desai and Scott, who have only been able to coach him in walkthroughs on the field thus far. All of that will change in training camp when he's expected to be ready to roll and the two mad scientists can begin experimenting to figure out how to best-accentuate his strengths.
Having played in a similar system in college at LSU, Adams doesn't expect much of a learning curve and should be able to hit the ground running ready to learn from his new tutors in the secondary.
“I love them, they are smart guys, guys that want to teach, very patient in what they do which is very important as a coach, and they just want everybody in the backend to make plays. That’s what it’s about," Adams said.
Reflecting on his first two seasons with the organization, Adams certainly isn't going to use injuries as an excuse. He battled through the pain to help contribute as much as he could for the Seahawks, including playing through injury in a Wild Card loss to the Rams in January 2021.
Now close to 100 percent healthy with two young, passionate teachers in Desai and Scott eager to bring out the best in him, Adams looks poised to return to the rank of the league's elite entering the first year of a record-setting $70 million extension he signed last August. Playing to his potential would go a long way towards the Seahawks surprising and being in the mix in the NFC West.
