dragondawg
06-06-2007, 03:30 AM
ENGLEWOOD - No question, Sam Adams is big. He puts it at about 345 pounds big.
And that stretched-to-max- load No. 63 jersey he wore on his first day with the Broncos? Not so big.
"As you can see, I had to hold my breath the entire practice," Adams said. "So, I won't be in this."
Yet no matter what number he ends up wearing or what the scale eventually says when the games begin to count, the Broncos are happy to have Adams' XXL résumé on their defense.
The 14th-year defensive tackle signed a one-year deal last weekend and spent Monday searching for a house.
He was on the practice field Tuesday for the first time, taking a limited number of snaps as the Broncos went through the first of three days' worth of team camp this week.
"Sam has been a great player in this league for many years," assistant head coach/defense Jim Bates said. "And to add that bulk to the middle, to be able to take up blockers, take up space, and Sam has the uniqueness as far as his quickness . . . his first step is as quick as any big man in football."
"It's always good to be loved," Adams said. "Us big guys, we don't get a lot of love at times, but coach Bates, he likes the big guys, so I'm happy to be a part of it."
Adams had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee earlier this offseason - he said it was to clean up some pieces of cartilage - and while the Broncos likely will keep an eye on the veteran's workload in the coming weeks, Adams said he felt "100 percent" after the workout.
The Broncos had been searching for more size in the middle of the defensive front of Bates' scheme. After a failed trade for Dan Wilkinson, Adams became the next target after he was released by the Cincinnati Bengals in mid-May.
But as far as just exactly how much bulk Adams will provide, that answer will come later.
"We want him in the best shape he can possibly be in . . . ," Bates said. "So we have to get him at a weight where his endurance won't be a factor in the fourth quarter."
Adams said he weighed 345 pounds. When told Adams put his weight at 345, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said with a smile, "You don't believe those defensive linemen, do you?"
The Broncos just want him to play with as much power as possible, keep his knees and ankles as healthy as possible and, at least initially, get him ready to play "about 28, 30 snaps" a game, Bates said.
Bates added they might ask Adams to lose about 10 pounds before training camp, but they would also watch Adams play more before making any firm decisions.
"It's not his size, it's his quickness," Shanahan said. "And he feels pretty good about his knee."
"It is a defense that allows defensive players to go out and make plays," Adams said. "They don't have to scheme, there isn't a lot of different things that we do here. They let you attack and go make plays. . . . It's an attacking front. It allows us to put pressure on the football, whether it be run or pass."
For his part, Adams said his weight was a nonissue, that he could "go up and down however I please." He did not participate in team drills much during Bengals training camp last year after starting camp on the physically unable to perform list with an undisclosed injury at the time.
Adams went on to start all 16 games for the Bengals last season, but he started only one of the Buffalo Bills' final eight games in 2005 because of an ankle injury.
"My role is to dominate when I'm on the field," Adams said. "I don't know what they want me to do, but when I get on the field, I'm going to do my best. (I've) been to Super Bowls and Pro Bowls at 355. . . .
"Like I told (the Bengals), wherever I am I'm going to the Pro Bowl, so it doesn't matter where I play football."
The Houston native said he never considered not trying to play somewhere else in the upcoming season after the Bengals released him and that his desire to keep playing was part of the reason he had his knee repaired early in the offseason.
"There was nothing in my mind where I wasn't going to play this year," Adams said. "I was going to play this year. I had good visits - St. Louis, Houston - but I wanted to be in Denver. I always wanted to be in Denver."
Heavy duty Rundown on new Broncos new defensive tackle Sam Adams.
• Age: 33, will be 34 on June 13.
• Weight: Adams said 345 pounds.
• Career starts: 166.
• Career games: 195.
• Career sacks: 44.
• Pro Bowls: Three.
• Super Bowl appearances: Two.
• Super Bowl rings: One (Baltimore, 2000).
• Did you know? Adams has returned two interceptions for touchdowns in his career: a 37-yarder for Buffalo in 2003; and a 25-yarder after intercepting Hall of Famer Troy Aikman for Seattle against Dallas in 1998.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_5572948,00.html
And that stretched-to-max- load No. 63 jersey he wore on his first day with the Broncos? Not so big.
"As you can see, I had to hold my breath the entire practice," Adams said. "So, I won't be in this."
Yet no matter what number he ends up wearing or what the scale eventually says when the games begin to count, the Broncos are happy to have Adams' XXL résumé on their defense.
The 14th-year defensive tackle signed a one-year deal last weekend and spent Monday searching for a house.
He was on the practice field Tuesday for the first time, taking a limited number of snaps as the Broncos went through the first of three days' worth of team camp this week.
"Sam has been a great player in this league for many years," assistant head coach/defense Jim Bates said. "And to add that bulk to the middle, to be able to take up blockers, take up space, and Sam has the uniqueness as far as his quickness . . . his first step is as quick as any big man in football."
"It's always good to be loved," Adams said. "Us big guys, we don't get a lot of love at times, but coach Bates, he likes the big guys, so I'm happy to be a part of it."
Adams had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee earlier this offseason - he said it was to clean up some pieces of cartilage - and while the Broncos likely will keep an eye on the veteran's workload in the coming weeks, Adams said he felt "100 percent" after the workout.
The Broncos had been searching for more size in the middle of the defensive front of Bates' scheme. After a failed trade for Dan Wilkinson, Adams became the next target after he was released by the Cincinnati Bengals in mid-May.
But as far as just exactly how much bulk Adams will provide, that answer will come later.
"We want him in the best shape he can possibly be in . . . ," Bates said. "So we have to get him at a weight where his endurance won't be a factor in the fourth quarter."
Adams said he weighed 345 pounds. When told Adams put his weight at 345, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said with a smile, "You don't believe those defensive linemen, do you?"
The Broncos just want him to play with as much power as possible, keep his knees and ankles as healthy as possible and, at least initially, get him ready to play "about 28, 30 snaps" a game, Bates said.
Bates added they might ask Adams to lose about 10 pounds before training camp, but they would also watch Adams play more before making any firm decisions.
"It's not his size, it's his quickness," Shanahan said. "And he feels pretty good about his knee."
"It is a defense that allows defensive players to go out and make plays," Adams said. "They don't have to scheme, there isn't a lot of different things that we do here. They let you attack and go make plays. . . . It's an attacking front. It allows us to put pressure on the football, whether it be run or pass."
For his part, Adams said his weight was a nonissue, that he could "go up and down however I please." He did not participate in team drills much during Bengals training camp last year after starting camp on the physically unable to perform list with an undisclosed injury at the time.
Adams went on to start all 16 games for the Bengals last season, but he started only one of the Buffalo Bills' final eight games in 2005 because of an ankle injury.
"My role is to dominate when I'm on the field," Adams said. "I don't know what they want me to do, but when I get on the field, I'm going to do my best. (I've) been to Super Bowls and Pro Bowls at 355. . . .
"Like I told (the Bengals), wherever I am I'm going to the Pro Bowl, so it doesn't matter where I play football."
The Houston native said he never considered not trying to play somewhere else in the upcoming season after the Bengals released him and that his desire to keep playing was part of the reason he had his knee repaired early in the offseason.
"There was nothing in my mind where I wasn't going to play this year," Adams said. "I was going to play this year. I had good visits - St. Louis, Houston - but I wanted to be in Denver. I always wanted to be in Denver."
Heavy duty Rundown on new Broncos new defensive tackle Sam Adams.
• Age: 33, will be 34 on June 13.
• Weight: Adams said 345 pounds.
• Career starts: 166.
• Career games: 195.
• Career sacks: 44.
• Pro Bowls: Three.
• Super Bowl appearances: Two.
• Super Bowl rings: One (Baltimore, 2000).
• Did you know? Adams has returned two interceptions for touchdowns in his career: a 37-yarder for Buffalo in 2003; and a 25-yarder after intercepting Hall of Famer Troy Aikman for Seattle against Dallas in 1998.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_5572948,00.html