It’s a good thing Josh Adams is fast. Because he has to play a little catch-up.
Adams was finally back at practice on Tuesday and expects to play in Thursday night’s game in Cleveland.
“Yeah, that’s the plan,” he said. “I hope so.”
Adams, 21, seemed to be separating himself for that fourth and likely final running back job earlier this summer, but then on Aug. 13 he tweaked his ankle during practice inside the practice bubble. He caught a pass, but twisted it as he ran toward the end zone and then missed a few days.
The undrafted rookie from Notre Dame, who is still contending for a roster spot, ended up missing three full practices and the second preseason game.
With limited opportunities to show he belongs, missing nearly a week certainly doesn’t help.
“I’m trying to make the best of all my opportunities, whether it’s in the film room or on the practice field,” Adams said. “Obviously, I wanted to be out there, but again I had to be smart about everything.”
Adams' ankle injury came after he missed spring workouts with a foot injury. And he still wears a heavy brace on his right knee from an ACL tear he suffered while at Central Bucks South High School.
When asked about his health now compared to when he was at Notre Dame putting up huge numbers, Adams said he actually feels stronger now.
Adams is in a competition with Wendell Smallwood, Matt Jones and Donnel Pumphrey for that fourth running back job and the race is still wide open. While Adams and Pump were forced to watch from the sideline last Thursday, the other two didn’t have very good games. Smallwood had four carries for one yard and Jones had three drops. So amazingly, Adams might not have quite as much ground to make up as it would appear.
And in that first preseason game, Adams was good. He had six carries for 30 yards and added another 11 yards on two catches. Not eye-popping stats, but certainly more than anyone else has done so far in this competition.
If nothing else, Adams has shown that he’s big and strong and fast. That’s a good start.
And he’s probably who fans would prefer win this job. After all, they did watch Corey Clement go from undrafted player to a guy who helped win the Eagles a Super Bowl. The parallels are there with Adams — when he’s on the field.
Despite the missed practice time, Adams said he’s been working hard to become sharper in the film room; basically doing anything he could to not get left behind while injured.
If Adams does get to play this Thursday in Cleveland, it’ll be a pretty good opportunity. Jay Ajayi, Clement and Darren Sproles are all expected to sit this one out, so that leaves just three guys available: Adams, Smallwood and Jones.
While he said he doesn’t count carries, making the most of them would certainly help his chances of making the 53-man roster. Even though he claims he just focuses on each day independently.
“Football is a lot of fun,” Adams said. “It’s my dream and it’s something that I love to do. At the end of the day, I’m blessed to come out here and play. I’m just focusing on what God got me here for. Making decisions and all that, 53, that’s upstairs; that’s their decision.”
With a strong showing in the last two games — and by staying on the field — Adams can help make that decision for them.