Mike Adams drew lots of criticism for his play against the Giants Saturday night. While his performance during the preseason opener wouldn’t earn him the label of technician, it wasn’t nearly as bad as many people were making it out to be. I think some people thought I was crazy the other day when I posted about his not so poor play in the forum.
Turns out, offensive line coach Mike Munchak agrees. In an interview with reporters at St. Vincent today, Munchak remarked on the offensive tackle’s performance. Via Chris Bradford of the Beaver County Times, Munchak said that Adams had a “good, solid start”. Coach Munchak also said that he thought Adams had some issues with technique early in the game, but settled in and was solid after time.
https://twitter.com/rayfitt1/status/499227401948495873
Munchak added that Adams is competing for the swing tackle spot with Guy Whimper. Personally, I don’t think that’s a very close competition. I can’t see any scenario where Adams doesn’t make the roster this year, but he’s going to need to continue to show the coaching staff that he can be trusted in pass protection. Munchak has already helped Marcus Gilbert fix some technique issues, and with time, there’s a strong chance he can do the same for Adams.
I’m pretty sure that Adams will be one of those players that is going to be criticized by Steeler fans for eternity.
The magnifying glass will always be bigger for him than most others, no doubt about that Strummer.
I had to go back and watch the game again after reading all of the complaints about him on Sat/Sun. I think a lot of folks had him confused with Hubbard. Hubbard looked like a turnstile while Adams played fairly well. Some of his run blocks were simply outstanding. It might take him another season to put it all together, but it appears as though progress is being made.
Perhaps that’s the case about Hubbard. He was a hot mess for much of the night. Adams is no Joe Thomas, but he wasn’t the doormat people were saying he was.