'I'm just a football player': Jamal Adams is embracing the game in a new role

Aug 11, 2025 at 01:33 PM

Levi Edwards

Digital Team Reporter

Jamal Adams isn't really into labels on the football field.

Throughout training camp, his versatility has routinely stood out. He's made plays all over the field, from finding himself at the line of scrimmage rushing the quarterback to, in the next play, back pedaling in coverage to break up passes.

No matter where Adams lines up at, his philosophy remains simple.

"Obviously I'm just a football player, man," he said. "See ball, get ball."

After Adams signed with the Raiders in July, Pete Carroll insisted the safety he coached with the Seattle Seahawks make the switch to WILL linebacker.

"He straight up told me, 'You're going to be in the linebacker room, so get over it,'" Adams said with a laugh. "So I was just like, 'Alright s*, let's do it.'"

Adams has never played linebacker in his life, not even in Pop Warner football. Yet his transition has been more seamless than imagined.

The three-time Pro Bowl safety is accustomed to being used in a variety of ways throughout his career. He set the record for most sacks in a season by a defensive back in his first season under Carroll in Seattle back in 2020.

"He's always been so instinctive and so aggressive and such a run-through guy, been a fantastic blitzer over his time," Carroll said. "So, I want to put him in position to do that. He's jumped right into the WILL spot, and that gives us some flexibility that we're going to grow with. He looks really good."

Jamal Adams is putting in work 👏 pic.twitter.com/vvCMEhc3QE
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) August 8, 2025

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While still learning the nuances of the position, he noted there are quite a few similarities between linebacker and safety, which is why there hasn't been a great learning curve with the transition. If there's any big adjustment to be made, it's been his new point of view up in the box.

"[Y]ou're understanding keys, you're shooting gaps, you're reading the running backs. So it's very similar in a lot of ways," Adams explained. "But like I say, I always tell people, man, it's just a different lens. I'm closer to the guards and the tackles. They can get their hands on me. I've got to obviously have great eyes to know what I'm looking at, having the right keys. And while you're in the back, you have a whole lens, a whole view of what's going on. So it's very similar in a lot of ways, but different as well."

Getting back on the football field itself has been a much more strenuous task than switching positions.

Once regarded as one of the best safeties in the NFL, a line of serious injuries began to affect Adams' career. In the span of four seasons, he suffered a torn labrum, torn quad tendon and a hip injury, forcing him out of action for 41 games.

While mentally fatiguing, he buckled down this offseason on his training regimen to get back to full health. He expressed gratitude to Carroll for taking another shot on him, as Adams believes he's in the best physical shape in years.

"I just couldn't be myself," he said. "I couldn't really practice the way I wanted to, but mentally, it was definitely draining having to sit down when I didn't want to sit down. … And obviously, it was different for me, very humbling. For me to sit down and obviously just gain perspective, not even just football, just life after football, it was tough.

"It was a lot of dark days, but I fought through. I knew eventually I would get back out there, but it was going to take time, and it definitely did. So just to be where I'm at now, mentally and physically, I'm definitely back to who I am."

Jamal Adams making plays for the @Raiders 🙌

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Watch live out-of-market preseason games on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/75Lmc8X37H
— NFL (@NFL) August 8, 2025

In the preseason opener against his former team, he definitely showed those signs of being back to his former self. He made several defensive stops and accounted for a team-high three solo tackles.

"I thought he was pretty flashy, like he's been in practice," Carroll said postgame. "He played like he's been practicing. He's been really obvious out there. He's real sudden, he's always been a very aggressive, attack oriented player, that's what separated him from others in his past. And I thought he looked good and ran well.

"I was really, really happy for him. This is kind of my pulling for him to get back. It's been a long haul with a difficult injury and shoot, I thought he played well."

With two preseason games left, Adams will have the opportunity to not only push for a roster spot but potentially earn a prominent role within the Raiders defense – wherever they ask him to line up.

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Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Darnay Holmes (30) on the field for practice at 2025 Training Camp at Intermountain Health Performance Center.