The Seattle Seahawks suffered a major loss Monday night during their win over the Denver Broncos. Pro-Bowl safety Jamal Adams injured his knee and is likely headed for season-ending surgery. Always preaching the “next man up” mentality, coach Pete Carroll is confident in Josh Jones stepping up.
“I’ve been really pleased with Josh Jones,” Carroll said during his Wednesday press conference. “Josh has done nothing but positive stuff since the day he got here. Since then, he’s taken the next step and then the next step. Coming into this camp, he came back and had a great camp. He had the most turnovers and he had the most big plays and big hits of all of the guys. You saw him in the rotations already, he was already part of the plan”
After a less-than-stellar start to his career, Jones was actually on the brink of retirement this offseason until he recalled a conversation he had with Carroll last year ahead of the Cardinals game, mapping out a potential future in Seattle.
“Since that talk, everything has been a lot different in my life,” Jones told reporters. “Nobody has ever, especially a head coach, took the time out to ever truly understand me. For me to be transparent with him – he listened, he took it from his perspective, and he understood where I was coming from as well.”
Carroll reached out once again this spring about Jones re-signing with the Seahawks and the safety made the decision he was now all-in.
“Now, he just takes a bigger step forward,” Carroll continued. “He’s strong, he’s fast, he’s 220 pounds, he’s a big kid that plays the position with a really big motor, and he is a smart kid.
“He’s having a blast, so we are really happy to have him.”