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Brady HendersonESPN
SEATTLE – The Seattle Seahawks won’t know if they will have the strong safety of All-Pro Jamal Adams for Saturday’s wildcard game with the Los Angeles Rams until game day, according to coach Pete Carroll.
Adams injured his left shoulder in the fourth quarter of Seattle’s regular season finale against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. He returned briefly, and then finished the game on the sideline. Carroll said after the game that the initial word from the Seahawks medical staff was that Adams would be able to play this weekend, but that initial optimism seemed to recede on Tuesday.
“He’s going to work all week and see what he can do and see if he’s okay,” Carroll said Tuesday, just before the Seahawks ’first session of the week. “We’ll have to wait until game day to find out.”
Adams did not practice on Tuesday.
Adams, acquired in a box office deal with the New York Jets last summer, led the Seahawks with 9.5 sacks in the regular season, an NFL record for defensive defense. Despite losing four games with a groin injury. He returned in week 9, and a week later suffered a right shoulder injury for which he has been playing, in addition to two broken fingers on his left hand.
After the Seahawks secured a postseason spot in Week 15, Adams yelled excitedly during his post-game video conference about going to the playoffs for the first time in his career. He lit a victory cigar on camera after the Seahawks won the Rams 20-9 a week later to win the NFC West title.
“He’s not been in the playoffs and wants to be a part of it and all that, so he crushed him,” Carroll said Monday at 710 ESPN Seattle when talking about Adams ’latest shoulder injury. “It’s very emotional and everything, and he’ll take care of it. We’ll see what happens [Monday] and the next two days, see how it feels and all. But he got hurt and handled it, he wanted to go back. We had to take off his helmet and all that aside because he wanted to fight with his guys. So we’ll see what happens. I can’t say right now. I do not know.”
An All-Pro in 2019, Adams was recently named to his third consecutive Pro Bowl.
Ryan Neal took over with great confidence when Adams was injured against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3, and sealed Seattle’s victory with a Dak Prescott interception in the end zone. The unwritten free agent of 2018 started the next four games and had another interception.
“We have a lot of confidence in Ryan for the way he plays,” Carroll said. “… He showed us that he plays very hard, he’s tough, he’s a game creator, he’s very aggressive in his style of play. … So he’ll be ready to go if we need him and we’ll be happy to play ‘l “.
Carroll also said defensive tackle Jarran Reed feels “much better” than he was after Sunday’s game after forcing his oblique. Carroll said that was cause for optimism, though Reed did not practice Tuesday.
“We’ll be very careful with him during the week and we’ll see how he goes about every day,” Carroll said.
In addition, Carroll said he expects runner Carlos Hyde to return this week after losing the 49ers game with a disease unrelated to COVID-19. And rookie defensive end Darrell Taylor practiced Tuesday for the first time; the Seahawks ’second-round pick has been on the non-football injury list all season due to a leg injury in college.