JETS’ SAFE
Maye, Adams only bright
Gloom and doom might hover over the Jets for the next 17 weeks, but there are at least a couple elements to this otherwise bleak season that will turn some frowns upside down. Truth be told, it will require a high pain threshold to endure the 2017 campaign, but there should be optimism surrounding Todd Bowles’ pair of rookie safeties.
Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye have the makings to be a dynamic duo for a very long time, a 1-2 punch expected to anchor the Jets secondary for the foresee- able future. Their glasses aren’t half full: They’re overflowing. Adams: “It’s a new chapter.” Maye: “I can’t wait.” Adams is the big-talking, uber-confident front man, a pedigree player whose ceiling reaches somewhere above the clouds. He’s wise beyond his 21 years. His lips are in perpetual motion.
“I’ve noticed people saying that he’s chirping,” Adams told the Daily News in the run-up to the Jets season opener against the Bills on Sunday. “That’s football, man. This is what we do. That’s what we love to do. We go out there, run around and talk noise. That’s the game of football. Talking noise is just part of it…. That’s just you on the playground. That’s just my playground. I enjoy it. It’s not negative talk. You’re on the field. You’re competitive. You want to win. I’ll do anything I have to do to win. That’s it.”
Maye is the softer-spoken, uber-confident second-rounder, an omnipresent player, who will lay you out if you’re not paying attention. He’s here. He’s there. He’s everywhere.
The pair of defensive backs has infused a young roster with joy at a time when that could be in short supply given that everyone with an opinion thinks that their team is going to be banished to NFL irrelevance this season.
“The No. 1 overall thing that makes somebody a great player is loving football,” defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. “They both just love football. When you love football that just makes you work hard, that makes you have passion for getting better, that makes you have passion for being a good teammate. That covers everything about what being a great football player is: Loving football. Because if you don’t love this, it’s going to be hard for you to wake up at 6 a.m. every day and come work out and practice. They just have a lot of enthusiasm for being here.”
There are lofty expectations for Mike Maccagnan’s first two picks of the 2017 draft. Their forecast is bright, but don’t expect miracles. Adams and Maye will endure their fair share of rookie growing pains, but the early returns are promising.
Adams, the No. 6 overall pick, insists that “he knows the playbook inside and out,” while admitting that his football education never stops. He’s more comfortable calling out the plays, but realizes that he has a long way to go.
The preseason exposed him to opponents’ varying formations and keys from receivers’ splits. The speed of the game at the highest level, frankly, wasn’t much different in his