The Seattle Seahawks are set to get a big boost with the return of All-Pro safety Jamal Adams on Monday night against the New York Giants. Adams, has yet to make his 2023 debut after working his way back from tearing his left quadriceps tendon in last season’s opener.
Adams, will have spent 384 days sidelined with injury but on Monday, that number stops growing. Yet, there was almost a time when the Seahawks’ playmaking safety walked away from the game he loved.
“It was tough. I thought about retiring. I thought about a lot of things. Is this going to be it for me? I didn’t know. But I knew eventually, after I got that MRI, I told myself I’m going to be back. I didn’t know when or how, but I was going to figure it out.”
Jamal Adams on overcoming last season’s injury
The fact that the now-27-year-old athlete even considered retirement just shows how difficult his injury recovery has been. Especially considering Adams has been here before, but he’s never missed as many as 16 games in a single season as he did a year ago.
After playing all 16 games in each of his first two seasons, Adams has, for the most part, remained healthy. Yet, he’s still missed a total of 30 games due to injury since 2019. These various setbacks include two torn shoulder labrums, dislocated fingers, plus injuries to his elbow and groin.
Adams admitted to being in a “dark place” after learning his season was over and recalls breaking out in tears upon learning the news.
“I was having all types of thoughts running through my mind, but at the time when I did tear my knee, that was definitely something I was considering. I was considering everything at the moment. I was in a dark place. Not on anything suicidal, but definitely in a lot of dark times as far as getting away from the game of football, getting away from people. At the time I wasn’t really talking to many people, wasn’t answering my phone. So you go through real life situations in this game of football.”
Adams signed a four-year, $70 million contract extension in 2021 a year after arriving in Seattle via trade from the New York Jets. He still has three years and $45 million left on his contract with the Seahawks.
There’s no denying the challenges the three-time Pro Bowl safety has had to overcome, and now he gets to return to the place where his NFL career began, at MetLife Stadium on Monday Night Football.
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