Davante Adams is expected to make his New York Jets debut against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, following his move from the Las Vegas Raiders.
The wide receiver was traded by the Raiders on Tuesday following months of speculation over his future.
Adams missed the Raiders’ last three games with a hamstring injury amid reports he wanted to leave Las Vegas.
However, on Wednesday Ulbrich, who is taking temporary charge of the Jets following the sacking of Robert Saleh, confirmed Adams participated in the team’s practice with a view to featuring at the weekend.
Adams himself admitted he will “be able to roll” on Sunday.
“I’m feeling good right now,” Adams said.
“I was running around today. We had a jog-through practice today and it was good. It felt good running around.”
“I’ll be able to roll on Sunday.” – @tae15adams pic.twitter.com/UQUpZrIQpB
— New York Jets (@nyjets) October 16, 2024
Ulbrich also said he was impressed with Adams’ character after meeting the 31-year-old for the first time on Tuesday.
“I’ve never met him prior to him coming in yesterday and what an amazing human being,” Ulbrich said.
“You never know what a superstar is going to be like. Sometimes a little weird sometimes and not at all.
“Just the humility I felt on him, the great teammate I felt on the love for football. I’m so excited to add this guy, not just to the field as a player but to the locker room from a culture standpoint.”
Adams will join what is already a stacked group of Jets wide receivers, including Garrett Wilson, but Ulbrich insists having selection headaches is something he is looking forward to.
“”It’s a really cool problem to have,” he added.
“It’s going to give us an opportunity to have more flexibility where we move these guys around.
“Sometimes it’ll be based upon the route concepts, sometimes the matchups, but it gives us a lot of freedom to play around with where these guys line [up].”
new threads, same number. pic.twitter.com/zs0WyNWKbg
— New York Jets (@nyjets) October 16, 2024
The move sees Adams reunite with Jets quarter-back Aaron Rodgers, with whom he enjoyed years of success at the Green Bay Packers.
Adams played his first eight NFL seasons with Rodgers, during which he was selected to five Pro Bowls and was a two-time first-team All-Pro.
He then joined the Raiders in 2022, becoming a first-team All Pro once again before ending his two-year spell in Vegas this week.
Ulbrich will be hoping the arrival of Adams will help turn around the Jets fortunes this season, after the team slumped to 2-4 for the campaign following a 23-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills that Rodgers called “a giveaway”.
On reuniting with his former teammate, the Jets QB added: “It looks like he’s drank the elixir from the fountain of youth.
“It has been a strange 24 hours but really fun to see my friend.”
