NFL Network insiders reported this morning that Davante Adams was scheduled to play against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, and New York Jets head coach Jeff Ulbrich confirmed that in his Wednesday press conference on the Jets’ YouTube channel.
“Davante should be a participant in full capacity,” Ulbrich said of Wednesday’s walkthrough practice. “It’s a challenge for Todd Downing and the offensive staff and getting him up to speed as fast as possible. Fortunately, there’s a lot of familiarity with the offense and it’s been a system he’s been a part of for years. So I don’t foresee it being a huge obstacle getting him going and involved.”
Adams was traded to the Jets from the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday afternoon for a conditional fourth-round pick. He is reunited with Aaron Rodgers, with whom he spent eight seasons on the Green Bay Packers.
Adams has only appeared in three games this season with a hamstring injury sidelining him in recent weeks. In those games, he has registered 18 receptions on 27 targets for 209 yards and a touchdown. Even at 31 years old, Adams is still a weapon, and even more so with a quarterback like Rodgers getting him the ball.
He is joining a very talented offensive roster. Along with Rodgers, Adams will be playing with the likes of Garrett Wilson, Allen Lazard, Breece Hall, Mike Williams, and Tyler Conklin. That is going to be a challenge for the Steelers to stop.
Mike Tomlin told the media on Tuesday that he was just preparing for Adams last week against the Raiders and now he is preparing for him again this week. At least they have some of the prep work out of the way, though it will be applied across two different offensive systems. Whatever plan they have to contain him with their secondary can be utilized, whether that means having Joey Porter Jr. follow him or not. Tomlin noted that it won’t significantly alter their game plan.
Given how many weapons they have on offense, there are going to be some unfavorable matchups for the Steelers. Beanie Bishop Jr. might have his work cut out for him, for example. The Jets should be able to move their top receivers around and into the slot to exploit that matchup. With Adams in the mix, this is easily the deepest group of receiving weapons the Steelers will have faced all season.
