Adams knows he’s anything but average

The word did not sit well with Jamal Adams.

The safety prospect out of LSU had just run a 4.56 second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis when someone uttered a phrase that made him burn inside.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Adams, the Jets’ first-round pick, recalled Friday. “I ran a 4.56 and, I can’t recall who said it, but they said it was an ‘average safety time.’ That ‘average’ word kind of bothered me. I don’t feel like I’m average. I don’t ever try to be average. I always try to be above and beyond in whatever I do. When that word was said about my time, it made me put my head down and grind for the next three weeks for the pro day and get the time down.”

He ran a 4.45 at LSU’s pro day, answering any questions about whether he is “average.”

The Jets certainly don’t think so. They took Adams with the No. 6 overall pick Thursday night, stunned he fell into their laps. It is a pick that has been universally praised.

“For me, it’s not even close, the No. 1 player I had in this draft was Jamal Adams out of LSU,” ESPN analyst Jon Gruden said. “I love the fact that he’s going to the Big Apple. He reminds me of some of my favorite safeties — the Ronnie Lotts, the Rodney Harrisons. The kid is a wrecking machine. He’s versatile. He can play in the post. He’s a great one-onone-tackler. He’s an inspiring leader and real quality person. This is a huge pick for the Jets.”

Adams came to the team’s Florham Park headquarters Friday to see his new workplace and meet people in the organization.

He was accompanied by family members, including his father George, who played for the Giants in the 1980s, and his mother Michelle. George recalled seeing a young Jamal on the football field at age 8 and seeing him doing things that made him stand out from the other children.

“He was doing things that kids his age don’t do,” George Adams said. “It was just different. He was a different kid.”