Jets first-round pick Jamal Adams is already making an impact on the field as he almost came away with a pick-six in Tuesday's practice.
"I dropped it," Adams said. "I read it, but I need to reel it in next time."
The 21-year-old displayed good burst and break after the ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage but was too low to corral. The LSU product displayed his cover skills later in practice as he broke up a pass on a crossing pattern intended for TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins.
While there's only so much stock to be put into OTAs, the No. 6 overall selection has been acclimating nicely both on the gridiron and in the locker room.
"Just learning the playbook, becoming that team player, building relationships with my teammates and learning the coaching staff," Adams said of his goals for OTAs. "Just trying to be well-rounded as a football player and as a person, so just doing everything they ask me to do."
The 6'1", 213-pounder said he's been paying close attention to the veterans, trying to learn the defense as quickly as possible. Adams pointed to size and terminology as the most challenging parts of digesting defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers' system. However, the biggest difference for Adams in being a professional is the speed of the game.
"It's very up-tempo," he said. "Everybody has a job to do and everybody has their certain speed, but your eyes, as a defensive player, can slow the game down. So as a young guy I'm just working on that."
Even though pads won't come on for almost two months, Adams is looking the part of a top pick thus far. Lauded for his talent and debatably more so his leadership, he's already very vocal, according to head coach Todd Bowles.
"We knew he was talented, but he's learning the defense like everybody else," Bowles said. "He makes his mistakes and as he gets better with reps in the fourth practice, we look for him to get better and try to help us."
