Before fielding questions about his hometown team, Jets safety Jamal Adams delivered a personal message.

"First off, happy birthday to my mother," Adams said of his mom, Michelle. "I love you. I miss you."

Sunday's matchup holds some extra weight for the third-year safety, who grew up in Big D rooting for one of their rivals.

"I was not a Cowboys fan. My father (George) obviously played for the Giants. I was the biggest Giants fan, so it was all about saying the Cowgirls," he said. "That's what it was when I was growing up, but I have a lot of respect for those guys, a lot of respect for that organization, how they're run. I have a lot of friends on that team as well. It's like a homecoming for me, but at the same time, it's the next game. We're focused on that, we're focusing on trying to get our first win as a team."

Adams and the Jets defense have a Texas-sized task coming to MetLife Stadium as the Cowboys' No. 1-ranked offense averages 452.8 yards per game and features a three-headed monster in QB Dak Prescott, RB Ezekiel Elliott and WR Amari Cooper.

"Looking forward to it. It's a hell of a challenge," Adams said. "[They have] a lot of skill plays, a lot of Pro Bowlers that can play football in that organization, not just the offensive side. We're just looking forward to the matchup and it's going to be fun."

Adams and Cooper overlapped in the SEC in 2014, Cooper's final year at Alabama and Adams' first at LSU. The 2015 No. 4 overall pick, who ranks No. 2 in the NFL with 512 receiving yards and has five touchdowns on 32 catches, is fresh off an 11-catch, 226-yard and one-touchdown performance in Week 5.

"He's a great talent. He ran a drag route when I was a true freshman playing and I made the tackle," Adams recalled. "I kind of felt special because I knew he was going to be a top-five pick, so I said I had the potential to be up there one day. He's a hell of a player, can run all of the routes. He can definitely impact the game to the highest ability and we have to slow him down."

Adams said the Jets have had a great week of practice after emphasizing the need to start fast, among other things, in a players-only meeting that took place Monday. The 6'1", 213-pounder led the meeting along with a handful of other veterans to get the team on the same page after starting 0-4. The Jets are itching for their first victory and if that happens to come Sunday against Adams' hometown team, it would be the icing on the cake for the rambunctious safety.

"It would be big," he said with a smirk. "I was just joking with my father, he works at a gym that I grew up in. It's nothing but Cowboys fans. It's one big family in there, but (he) definitely wants this win as much as I do and the rest of the guys around here to go home and have the bragging rights. He's going to be nonstop talking if we do grab this win.

"We just have to go out there and execute our brand of football. It's going to be a tough challenge, it's a well-coached group and we're looking forward to it."