Jamal Adams understands what New York Jets fans are going through. After another loss, he vowed to solve the issues plaguing their defense.
FOXBORO, MA—New York Jets safety Jamal Adams covered a lot of issues and occurrences while meeting with reporters on Sunday afternoon. His team had fallen 30-14 to the New England Patriots, but Adams provided one of the Jets’ few silver linings.
With the outcome long-settled, Adams took a Jarrett Stidham pass back 61 yards for a score to create a respectable final margin. It was the first touchdown of the fan-favorite defender’s career.
Yet, it appeared that the historic touchdown was the only thing Adams didn’t want to talk about.
“I don’t really care about it honestly,” Adams declared. “Yeah, that’s an achievement for me, but I just want to win. That’s what I’m about.”
Adams’s latest milestone indeed came in another Jets loss, one that was never particularly close. The safety’s unit was one of the groups to earn some praise from head coach Adam Gase, who was pleased with the second-half effort. After giving up 20 points in their first three appearances, the Jets’ defense forced New England into seven punts, including four in a row to start. The defense also allowed only a mere field goal when a Devin McCourty interception set the Patriots up deep in Jets territory.
Adams once again played realist when reminded about the small accomplishment, mainly because he was not interested in throwing in betraying his offense.
“The defense gave up 20 points. So I don’t talk about the offense,” Adams said. “The offense is going to be fine.”
He’s instead going to worry about the issues he can fix on the other side of the ball.
“We had a lack of communication I think…(New England) threw some good things at us. We’ve got to execute better as a defense. We’ve got to communicate better early on.”
The defender did take time to glean some silver linings from the latest loss. For one thing, perhaps no one was louder about the Jets’ post-bye fortunes than Adams. Many will be undoubtedly quick to write New York off after this 0-3 start, but Adams says the team’s goals are no different than when they began the year.
“It’s simple, to win. There’s nothing else to it,” he said when asked about the post-bye goals. “Got to get on the same page as far as offense, defense, special teams. We got to play four quarters consistently. As long as we do that, stick together, we’ll be fine.
“There’s definitely belief (we can recover). We see what we have, we see the talent in this room, we see the big plays from time to time.” echoed defensive lineman Leonard Williams. “It’s just being able to be consistent with it.”
Throughout his discussion with reporters, Adams also repeatedly stated that “we’ll be fine” because “it’s only three games.” He’s pleased about Week 4’s early bye because it gives the team a de facto new season to work with. As the defensive leader, he mentioned he was looking forward to seeing how things can get better, including himself in the group that has to improve.
“We’ve got to play as a team better. Obviously, we’re going to get those things corrected when we get back,” he said. “I’m not perfect. Everybody’s out there flying for the ball. We’ll always be aggressive, but we’ve got to be consistent.”
In perhaps the most telling sign of Adams optimism, he mentioned that this brutal stretch of Jets football may be divine intervention.
“This is God’s calling. He wanted us to get some adversity early on. I think we’re the team in the NFL that’s had the most adversity so far. Now, it’s going to show us what we’re made of … as men, as a team, as a family.”
Adams finished Sunday’s game with three tackles and a deflection. He’s currently tied for the team lead with Darryl Roberts with 10 solo stops.
He concluded his Sunday remarks with yet another promise and message to the Jets’ fanbase. Adams admitted he saw plenty of shades of green in Gilette Stadium’s stands. He was disappointed his squad couldn’t provide them with happy feelings on the way home, a feeling no doubt replicated by those who made the journey.
In addition to vowing to personally take care of the Jets’ communication issues, tapping his chest and declaring “I’ll do it,” Adams implored fans to not turn their team off just yet.
“Just stick with us. It’s easy to give up,” he said. “We’re hurting just as much as they’re hurting out there, I can tell you that. “We feel bad for them. They’re coming to the games and we’re letting them down, but we’re also letting ourselves down.”
With 13 days to prepare for potential redemption, interconference style, there’s plenty of hurt to go around.
