Jets need to move on and forget Jamal Adams

The New York Jets traded Jamal Adams earlier this month to the Seattle Seahawks. Now, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is acting the part of a jilted lover.

Williams spoke to the media on Thursday and talked about the deal sending Adams to the Pacific Northwest. Instead of side-stepping the question or simply focusing on his own team, Williams took a shot at both the Seahawks and Adams. Per NFL.com:

“Jamal may get bored there because they don’t use their safety type things and all the different complexities … maybe not showing what they’re doing as much as we do. We’ll do still the same patterns of things. We’ll still do a lot of the same exact things. But we’ll highlight the people we have here. As you saw, what we did there was that he had maybe his most productive year here because of how we highlighted the skill sets that he’s had. I’ve had a lot of really, really good guys at that position. Over the years had a lot of really good safeties to be able to build things around.”

Williams isn’t wrong about the production Adams had under his guidance. Last year, the former first-round pick out of LSU racked up 10 tackles for losses and 13 quarterback hits — both career highs — despite playing only 14 games. Additionally, Adams was named First-Team All-Pro for the first time in his three-year pro career.

Still, there’s little reason to be focused on the past. The Jets are desperately trying to forget the past decade where they failed to make the playoffs over the final nine years. New York traded Adams for a pair of first-round picks and a third-round choice, getting tremendous value in return for their star.

The focus should be on the future, and how Williams will use Bradley McDougald — a quality safety acquired in the deal with Seattle — to help the team move forward. Instead, New York is talking about a player who wanted out and got his way. Move on and be done with it.

If the Jets are going to get better, if they are going to find their way towards the top of the AFC East in the post-Tom Brady era, it starts with the correct mindset. Perhaps they have it and Williams’ comments aren’t indicative of their direction.

Or, perhaps the Jets are thinking of all the wrong things before an arduous season ahead.