Before going in for his scheduled quad surgery in a few days, Jamal Adams visited his teammates after Friday's practice and gave an emotional speech ahead of the Seahawks' road game against the 49ers in Week 2.
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said Adams spoke on his excitement over Seattle's season-opening win over the Denver Broncos after many expected them to have little to no chance of victory.
“It was great. He just popped in on us at the end there,” Carroll said, via the team's website. “It was really good. He had a chance to speak to the whole crew. He’s just such a heartfelt guy, and he just let it out and just told the guys what he was thinking and how grateful he was about the win. ... It was great to reconnect, for everybody."
Adams had suffered a torn quad tendon during the win on Monday night, bringing Russell Wilson to the ground on a hit but coming up limping afterwards. Adams made it to the medical tent on his own, but ended up riding the cart to the locker room. Despite the severity of the injury, Adams apparently refused to leave Lumen Field without seeing the game through.
"They were trying to haul him out of the stadium, and he went up to the box or something and got a chance to watch the finish of it and was going crazy by the end," Carroll said.
Considering this is just the latest in a series of injury setbacks since Adams arrived in Seattle, it's understandable that there was some emotion in seeing his teammates off to their next game.
Adams joined the Seahawks via a high-profile trade with the Jets in 2020, bringing the three-time All-Pro safety to Seattle in exchange for multiple first-round picks. He's shined while on the field, being rewarded with a monster four-year, $72 million deal for his work, but has yet to put together a full season without injuries. He played only nine games each of his first two years with the Seahawks, and was going to try and play through a broken finger suffered in training camp this season, but the quad injury ended his hopes for a full season after just the one game.
But despite the situation, Adams' teammates said they were happy to see he looked upbeat on Friday, with rookie cornerback Coby Bryant saying he's sure Adams will only come back stronger from the injury.
“That’s big bro, so I was happy to see him more than anything, see that he had positivity. Obviously it’s hard seeing him like that," Bryant said, via the Seattle Times. "Obviously I wanted to play with him this year, but things happen for a reason and I know he is going to get back and become better.’’