Jamal Adams had a special visitor slide into his Direct Messages on Instagram this week.
“Hey, do you remember me?” the person wrote.
Relax, Jets fans. The team’s rookie safety isn’t in any kind of off-the-field trouble. It was Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette, having fun with his former LSU teammate and friend.
Adams hasn’t forgotten him — Fournette has been the focus of the Jets defense this week as it prepares for Sunday’s contest at MetLife Stadium.
The two played together for three years after committing to LSU on the same day at the 2014 Under Armour All-American Game, frequently challenging each other in workouts and meeting head-on in the hole.
“Nothing but collisions,” Adams said with a smile, reflecting back to his college days. “He got me, I got him, and we [would] go back and forth.
“We’ll go at it. It’s been like that since LSU days. We feed off each other. It’s going to be a great matchup.”
Fournette one-upped him on draft day, going fourth overall to the Jaguars, while Adams was taken sixth by the Jets. Adams said their one-on-one battles in college were a draw, which means Sunday could be the tiebreaker.
“We’ll definitely see,” the hard-hitting safety said. “It’s going to be fun.”
Facing the bruising 6-foot, 229-pound Fournette, though, will be a challenge. While Adams is coming off the best game of his short pro career, a 20-6 win over the Dolphins in which he was a factor all over the field, Fournette is off to a strong start, too. He has run for a touchdown in each of his first three games for the 2-1 Jaguars, and has amassed 199 yards on 57 carries, good for a 3.5 yards average.
“He’s a great, downhill runner. He definitely brings it all,” Adams said. “He’s the total package. That’s why he’s a top-five pick.”
Adams, who had a sack, two tackles for loss and a pass defensed against the Dolphins, said he has a few tips he will offer his teammates. But there isn’t much mystery when it comes to Fournette. He’s a north-south runner who likes to inflict punishment.
“He’s not going to go down easy,” linebacker Jordan Jenkins said. “You have to bring your pads with you. Try to arm-tackle that guy, it’s not going to work.
“He knows how to make the right cuts, and make his cuts full speed. There’s no slowing down for him.”
The Jets defense will enter Sunday feeling good about itself, after limiting the Dolphins to 225 total yards, and holding power rusher Jay Ajayi to 16 yards on 11 carries. The performance was in stark contrast to the first two weeks, when they allowed 370 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
But coach Todd Bowles cautioned against expecting a repeat performance simply because Fournette is a similar runner. The Jaguars game plan and offensive system are different from that of the Dolphins.
“We got to build off [last week],” defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson said. “It’s a challenge for us, and of course we’re always up for it.”
The Jets are counting on Adams being a factor in slowing down Fournette. He was used in a variety of ways against the Dolphins, at safety, linebacker, cornerback and as an edge defender. It’s likely that will continue Sunday. Adams tried to downplay reuniting with his good friend on the field, but he did admit he’s looking forward to seeing Fournette between the lines.
“We’re definitely going to meet in the hole,” he said.