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To paraphrase Jack Buck . . .
“I can’t believe what I just heard.”
That was my reaction when when I was in the media scrum in front of Jamal Adams and he said, “The Rams don’t take calls on Aaron Donald. The Patriots don’t take calls on Tom Brady. That’s where I hold myself, in that regard. Regardless of, I understand that you have a job to do, that’s the way I took it.”
This was one of those statements where it didn’t take a while for it to sink in, but the second he said it, it was like “whoa.”
Adams is a very good player, but he’s not in Donald-Brady stratosphere.
And to boot, he’s coming off a game he didn’t play that well.
Adams was all over the map with his statements basically saying he wouldn’t mind be trading to his hometown Cowboys, but was insulted the Jets were shopping him.
It was a bizarre press briefing and went on way too long.
This was press conference was interminable, and due to its length, he continued to dig a deeper hole.
I think one of the issues with Adams, aside from all the losing over the last three years ripping at his soul, is perhaps the agency representing him constantly whispering stuff in his ears.
During his the press briefing, he kept references things his agent told him about the trade rumors.
I’m sure he’s agent does a nice job in most regards, but in my opinion, and I could be 100 wrong, an agent should be a calming influence for a player, not somebody getting the client all pissed off at his employer, especially during the season.
And I’m not looking to take sides in this matter, but I really don’t think Joe Douglas did anything wrong here.
If a team calls you to discuss a player, is that you shopping the player?
No.
If a team calls to make an offer for a player, isn’t it smart to listen to what they are willing to offer, and if they offer a king’s ransom, shouldn’t you consider taking it?
If Adams was on the Brady-Donald level, perhaps you hang up the phone when teams calls, but he’s not.
He’s a solid player, who has had his moments (like the great blitz to stop a top-point conversion against Dallas), but he’s also had too many penalties, along with some missed tackles and interception opportunities. Very good player, but hard to say untradeable at this point.
And I don’t know if you have noticed, but Adams, who has been a Jets fan favorite, has taken a lot of heat from fans on social media this week for his tweets and comments to the media. The tide seems to be turning a little bit in the relationship between Adams and some in the Jets fans base, with the word “diva” and “prima donna” being tossed around.
If I were Adams agent, I would tell him to just focus on football the rest of the season, chill out on social media and say little to the press (just throw out a bunch of cliches to get through the tedious press conferences, like the Jets offensive assistants did yesterday), get to the off-season, and maybe get traded to Dallas at that point.
Because this has not been the best week for “The President” as he is known.
So maybe it’s best for Adams to focus on being the best player he can the rest of the season, because there is nothing he can do about his employment situation right now, with the trade deadline passed.
And maybe his agent should try calm him down, not the reverse.
One other thing – Adam Gase has handled this the right way, taking a Bill Belichick approach when asked about Adams’ comments, saying he’s “focused on the Dolphins.”
Gase really can’t win getting into the weeds on this one.
October 31, 2019
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