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If he wants . . .
. . . to be a great leader he probably needs to avoid doing this in the future.
Talking about Jamal Adams.
The perception is he’s a great leader for the Jets.
Is this accurate? He’s a good leader, no doubt, but if he wants to get to be a great leader, he needs to stop doing this one particular thing.
And somebody from the Jets needs to have the gumption to tell him this.
After the 2018 season, he lobbied for the Jets to acquire Antonio Brown from the Pittsburgh Steelers..
“That dude is a star,” Adams said on WFAN, January, 2019. “Obviously, certain people have their opinion about him, but one thing I do know: From watching and witnessing it, AB is going to come to play. When he steps on that football field, it’s all business. Everything is about football with him. I would definitely love to see him come here. Him and Sam, I think, would have a great connection. That would give Sam another big-time weapon.”
Perhaps that’s not his job to talk about who the team should acquire, and by saying that, his teammates at receiver on the roster, could take that as a personal affront.
Then later that month, Adams actually met with the agent for free agent running back Le’Veon Bell at the Pro Bowl
“I’ll tell you this: We’re hoping we can grab [Bell],” Adams told the New York Post shortly after this meeting.
Adams meeting with an agent of a free agent player? That’s very rare. And by doing that, perhaps you are insulting the running backs on the roster, his teammates.
Then earlier this off-season, he went down the same road, naming who the Jets should target this off-season.
“I would definitely go for Jadeveon Clowney,” Adams told the NFL Network. “Pass rusher, that’s what I’m looking forward to. That’s a safety’s best friend. Definitely Clowney, Big 9-1 down in Jacksonville (Yannick Ngakoue), he’s a beast. Dante Fowler. I mean, there are so many guys coming out right now in free agency that we could sure use coming off that end.”
Is is his job to give Joe Douglas a free agent wish list? And one again, by saying that, isn’t he insulting the defensive ends on the roster, his teammates?
Look, I’m not saying the Jets aren’t in need of an edge-rusher. That’s not the point. Let Douglas decide that. You’re insulting the defensive ends on the roster by saying that, the guys you went to war with last year. Because you’re suggesting somebody should lose a job. Because you sign somebody, and somebody currently in the building might be let go.
Transcendent leaders don’t publicly advise the front office what free agents they should sign, because that makes teammates think he wants them replaced. Are those players going to run through a brick wall for that “leader” when he gives a speech?
If you’re the accountant for a company, and somebody at your company told the media. “We need an accountant,” how would you feel about that co-worker?
Can imagine a player on the Patriots suggesting to them who they should sign in free agency? Think about that for a second. That player would likely be a former Patriot.
Not saying there’s any malicous intent by Adams here, but it’s bad for the Jets’ football culture when a player chimes in on roster moves. As they say, “Farm your own land.”
Some would argue that Steve McLendon is the top leader on the Jets’ defense right now.
April 21, 2020
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