Jamal Adams was an early standout at Seahawks practices. (Getty)
The Seahawks had their second off-day of training camp on Wednesday, and took a breather from practice as they prepared for a sniff of a team.
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What was so noticeable in the first stretch of padded practices is that the defense looks faster and better. On Monday, security Jamal Adams put on a show. Although he had only two interceptions in his three-year NFL career, he caught Russell Wilson at the goal line and went about 100 yards for a touchdown.
Adams brings so much energy to the defense. He communicates well. He’s all over the field. He seems to really fit this defense and should help cover up the disappointment of the defense last season.
Adams ‘addition closes the gap between the Seahawks’ talent and defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers. What can make the difference is the injury situation. The Seahawks are in decent shape injury-prone. The 49ers are not. Injuries have been so bad that the 49ers are struggling to get through training camp.
Center Weston Richburg is expected to start the season on the PUP list. He comes from ACL surgery. Defensively, Ronald Blair and Jullian Taylor also come off ACL surgeries and have not been on the training field. Slot cornerback K’Waun Williams is sidelined with a calf injury.
Cornerback is a big issue for the 49ers. Richard Sherman has been put in the position, but all is not certain. The 49ers have not added much to cornerbacks this offseason and that could be a problem. Another commitment for the 49ers was the pectoral injury of defensive back DJ Reed. The 49ers awaited him injured earlier this month and the Seahawks immediately demanded him be exempted. In the future, Reed could be a cornerback option as a candidate as kick-returner for Seattle.
The biggest problem the 49ers have with injuries is at wide receiver. They have three injured receivers – four if you record Travis Benjamin’s opt-out. Deebo Samuel has a Jones fracture and may not be ready for the season opener. Richie James has a broken wrist and is out. Jalen Hurd blew out an ACL and is done for the season.
The 49ers had Tavon Austin and JJ Nelson and are signed by former Seahawk Jaron Brown. Those are three new receivers the 49ers have added since the start of training camp. It has been a shrinkage.
Clearly, for the Seahawks to catch the 49ers, they need to be better on defense. They have added speed and battle skill. In the first two refurbished practices, the speed improvement becomes noticeable. The continuation is faster. Bruce Irvin has added great speed to the linebacking corps.
The offensive line also needs to improve. Rookie Damien Lewis is off to a good start. He is a pick of the third round running with the first team on right guard. While it’s a lot to ask a rookie not to start an offseason program, Lewis’s is an interesting story. He is big and has decent athletics.
As much as DJ Fluker was a force on the Seahawks’ line last year, he recently brought up a disturbing fact. He admitted that he was 44% body fat last year. Well, he says he is at 22% body fat. He had a 50% reduction in his shirt size from 4XL to a 2XL. You wonder how much that some things may have slowed down in his blockade last year.
That’s a lot of body fat.
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