By Tim Booth | The Associated Press
RENTON, — Pete Carroll finally had the chance to see new safety Jamal Adams on the field in a Seattle Seahawks uniform this week.
It was during the kind of workout Carroll would have conducted months ago in a normal NFL offseason, not less than six weeks before the scheduled season opener.
“This is just a unique time. There’s nothing like it,” Carroll said via video conference “We’re going to put together a camp that’s going to take us right to the opening game and away we go. Like I said to you guys in the past, I don’t feel uncomfortable with that because we just came out of the nine years of doing it at [USC]. Your first game, you’re playing for the national championship and if you don’t win that game you may be out of it. And so, it’s the same thought and the same approach. We’ll try to do a really good job with a really clear sight on how we’re going about it.”
Seattle moved into the next phase of training camp with its offensive and defensive players splitting up into morning and afternoon sessions of conditioning. Teams usually do this kind of work in April and May, not early August.
Carroll’s video conference was his first extended media availability since Seattle wrapped up its virtual offseason program in June. Plenty has changed since then. The addition of Adams was most notable, but the Seahawks also learned they would be without cornerback Quinton Dunbar for now after he was placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt list.
There were also rumors the Seahawks had interest in either bringing back Josh Gordon or adding Antonio Brown. Carroll said Seattle was doing its due diligence on all possible options.
“It’s a very complex situation and we just need to see where it fits somewhere down the road,” Carroll said.
For Adams, it was his first formal on-field activity with the Seahawks after his trade from the New York Jets. Carroll couldn’t wait to talk about what the 24-year-old strong safety will bring to Seattle’s defense.
“I’ve been very fortunate and coached some really good safeties over the years, and I see traits of Jamal in all of those guys,” Carroll said. “He can do everything that we want a guy to do. He’s most dynamic as an aggressive player, where he has chances to make plays and be around the line of scrimmage and around coverage in pressure situations. He’s really good at all of that. I’m thrilled to be putting this thing together.”
Carroll said the Seahawks are considering ways to get Adams, free safety Quandre Diggs and second-year safety Marquise Blair on the field at the same time in various packages. That could include Blair playing a nickel cornerback role.
Those lineups will be figured out as training camp progresses. The Seahawks have nearly a full roster as one of the few teams not to have any players placed on the reserve/COVID list. Carroll said that while the team is not in a true bubble, the personal responsibility of the players has been significantly addressed.
Roster notes
Seattle placed RB Rashaad Penny (knee) on the physically unable to perform list. The move was expected after Penny suffered a torn ACL late last season. Penny is expected to report to the team for his initial intake testing later this week. … Seattle also placed DE Darrell Taylor, TE Colby Parkinson and DE Marcus Webb on the non-football injury list. … Carroll said TE Will Dissly (Achilles) passed his physical clearing him for training camp activity, but said the team will be slow in ramping him up.
