Rookie Adams sprains ankle during practice
FLORHAM PARK » Jamal Adams eased the concerns of theNewYork Jets and their fans with one simple tweet.
The New York Jets rookie safety sprained an ankle during practice Thursday and coach Todd Bowles said the severity of the injury was not immediately known — although it doesn’t appear serious.
“I’m okay,” Adams wrote on Twitter about an hour after practice concluded. “God is good.”
Bowles said that Adams, the team’s first-round draft pick out of LSU, was hurt during 7-on-7 drills and sat out for the remainder of practice. Adams remained on the field for the rest of the session and Bowles didn’t think the safetywould need anMRI exam on the ankle.
“I don’t know how bad or how much he sprained it,” Bowles said. “But I know he sprained it, so we kept him out.”
Adams is expected to start at safety along with second-rounder Marcus Maye, giving the Jets two rookie starters in their revamped secondary.
“He was walking around, doing everything,” Maye said of Adams. “He’ll be good.”
It’s been a rough week for Adams, who made some headlines Monday when he said during a fan forum that included Commissioner Roger Goodell that if he had his choice, the football field would be “the perfect place to die.”
OnTuesday, he clarified his statements by saying he only meant to show his passion for the game and meantnodisrespect foranyplayers or families dealing with the effects of concussions and other injuries.
“You knew what he meant, but when there’s no news going on and you want to make news, you can make news any time you want,” Bowles said. “Here in the city, in New York, especially, when you misstep and make a mistake with aquoteor something like that, people take it and runwith it.” In other injury news:
• Running back Matt Forte remains day to day with a tweaked hamstring. The Jets will ease him back, as they did last summerwhen he had a similar issue.
• Defensive lineman Claude Pelon has a knee injury, and Bowles said he would have X-rays taken to determine the nature and severity.
• Rookie running back Marcus Murphy (leg) had X-rays onWednesday, whichBowles saidwerenegative. “Right now, we’re just treating it and we’ll see howhe comes along,” Bowles said. Murphy pulled up during kick/ punt return drills on Tuesday.
• Rookie linebacker ConnorHarris is day to day with a hamstring injury.
NOTES» After a day offWednesday, the Jets returned to the field for a practice filledwith lots ofmistakes, including several dropped passes and missed blocks that resulted in a handful of players running laps. The defense combined for at least 10 “sacks” during team drills. “I think as a team, we were sloppy,” Bowles said. Added WR Quincy Enunwa: “We weren’t ready, and it’s frustrating.” ... Ross Martin, competing with veteran Chandler Catanzaro for the kicking job, went 6 for 6 on his attempts. Catanzaro, meanwhile, had twomisses
— both inside 40 yards. Martinwas in camp with the Jets last summer after being signed as an undrafted free agent out of Duke, but lost to Nick Folk after some misses in the preseason. Folk was released in the offseason and Martin has a legitimate shot this year against Catanzaro, who signed a one-year, $900,000 deal with New York after three seasons in Arizona. ... Bowles on new offensive coordinator John Morton, who has done quite a bit of yelling during training camp: “He’s going to be a great old man. When he gets old and starts yelling at kids, his voice is going to scare a lot of people.”