The Seahawks signed safety Julian Love as a free agent this month, but head coach Pete Carroll said on Tuesday that Love’s addition was not a sign that Jamal Adams is out of the team’s plans for the 2023 season.
Adams tore his quad in Week One last season and he missed nine games over his first two seasons in Seattle, so there’s been some doubt about whether he’ll be fit enough to rejoin the team for the start of the 2023 season. On Tuesday, Carroll said that the team has a “clear thought” about how they’ll use Adams, Love, and Quandre Diggs at safety and that Adams is targeting a September return to action as he goes through the rehab process.
“We’ve sent our guys out to see him about 10 days ago and he’s coming in in the next couple weeks, too, so we’re keeping track,” Carroll said, via Brady Henderson of ESPN.com. “It sounds like he’s doing great. He’s pushing it and he’s going to try to bust whatever projections that would keep him from . . . being ready for the start of the season. He’s looking to get that done. We’re counting on it, hoping it.”
Adams had 9.5 sacks in his first year with the Seahawks and the addition of Love could allow the team to use Adams in a role closer to a linebacker near the line of scrimmage next season. He’ll have to be healthy to make that a reality and the coming months will bring more word about whether that’s how things will play out in Seattle.