New Lions safety Andrew Adams got chills speaking to Matt Patricia

Andrew Adams has been one of the Lions’ low-key signings this offseason. The former Buccaneers safety quietly signed a one-year deal that will count less than $1 million against the cap. However, with the team moving on from Glover Quin this year, and youngster Tracy Walker still budding, there’s certainly a chance that Adams gets some significant playing time in 2019.

And although there’s a lingering narrative out there that Lions head coach Matt Patricia could be a deterrent for incoming free agents due to his strict nature, Adams felt the opposite. He admitted that “the business side” was part of the reason he came to Detroit, but on an episode of the podcast “Locked on Lions,” he gushed about Patricia and his first impressions of the Lions coach.

“When I came here for the visit, the coaching staff embraced me with open arms, and the building just seemed so genuine and sincere,” Adams said. “I knew it was going to be a great place and after speaking to the GM and Coach Patricia and coach Pasqualoni, they kind of told me where the program was heading and it’s definitely heading in the right direction. So, I wanted to be part of a championship program.”

Though Adams has experience working with defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni—they both were together at UConn in 2012 and 2013—it was specifically Patricia who blew him away.

“I loved the conversation with Coach Patricia,” Adams said. “He sounds like one of the hardest workers I’ve ever spoke to. I just can’t wait to actually see it for my own eyes. But he really got me motivated by some of the things he said, it kind of gave me the chills, like, I’m ready to suit up today. It was definitely a great conversation, a motivating conversation.”

Last year with the Buccaneers, Adams was a replacement safety, filling in for Chris Conte when he suffered an injury. He took advantage of the opportunity, playing in 13 games, starting four, and setting a career-high nine passes defended while nabbing four interceptions—also a career mark for Adams.

He’s coming to a Detroit team that certainly needs depth at the safety position, but Adams isn’t expecting to have a job handed to him.

“There’s no promises made,” Adams said. “It’s just work. I don’t expect anything to be given to me or for me to be placed in a certain, whatever role—a starting role or a backup role—I come in looking, I’m going to earn whatever I get. That’s how I look at it, I’m pretty sure that’s how they look at it.”

That being said, the 26-year-old defensive back thinks Detroit is where his career can really bloom. Given how some of his former teammates with the Giants have seen their game elevate in Detroit—Romeo Okwara set a career-high eight sacks last year, while Devon Kennard showed signs of improvement—Adams thinks he could be next in line.

“I definitely think Detroit—I could find a home here. Just with the people in the building and the coaching staff, I feel like they can take players like me and blow them up as to where the whole league knows their name.”

You can listen to the entire Locked On Lions interview here. It starts at the 2:27 mark.