It's been a while since we've seen or heard from Jamal Adams.
The Seahawks safety played in just one game in 2022 before a quadriceps injury ended his season. By the time the 2023 season starts, it will have been nearly a year since Adams' injury. But because of the nature of his injury, Adams' status remains uncertain.
"He's doing well. The company answer is that we don't know exactly, you know, timeline," Seahawks general manager John Schneider said Thursday during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show. "He's got to keep progressing here. Very bad injury, very unfortunate for Jamal. For our team last year, really. He was crushing it in the first half of that Denver game last year. You could see the intensity. You could see the difference maker that he truly is early in that game. So, we really missed him throughout the season."
Health wasn't initially much of a concern for Adams when he arrived in New York via the sixth-overall pick of the 2017 draft. He played in every game in his first two seasons, and 14 of 16 contests in 2019.
Since then, he's missed at least four games per season. After missing every contest but the first in 2022, Schneider is rightfully concerned about Adams' status going forward, enough to give him as much time as necessary to get back to 100 percent with zero worries or limitations before taking the field.
"He's working his tail off," Schneider said. "We want to be really careful with this. It's been two years in a row where he's been banged up now. We had traded for him, and he came in and set the sack record for a DB with [9.5], and then he's had two years now where he's been banged up.
"We want to be really careful with his progression, so, training camp, I'm just not sure. We'll see where he is when he comes in for the OTAs."
Schneider's mention of OTAs represents an official status update, a check-in with Adams to see where he is in his progression. It's been a long time since Adams was involved in the day-to-day process in Seattle, and after a few months apart, his return for OTAs will be a checkpoint on his path back to the field.
Seattle has already made sure to add depth to the safety position in the event Adams cannot play, signing former Giants defender Julian Love in the offseason. Ultimately, though, the Seahawks would prefer to have a player for whom they gave up plenty to acquire -- and received a second-team All-Pro performance in his first season -- available at the start of a promising season.
For now, it remains a case of hoping for the best. The Seahawks should know more by the time the calendar turns to June.
