Troy lineman Adams plays through pain

TROY — Steven Adams never dealt with serious injuries — until he won a starting job on the Troy offensive line.

Since then, both of his shoulders have been injured and he’s currently playing through a high ankle sprain. The senior beat out returning starter Wes Potter at right guard prior to last season and, despite shoulder surgery over the spring, hasn’t missed a start since.

“The ankle’s hurting a little bit and the shoulder’s always going to hurt, but it’s nothing. I’m still going to play,” Adams said.

Adams said he was warned by center Danny Franks, who has gone through several surgeries, to get used to pain. He sprained his right shoulder during last season’s opener, but tore the labrum and his rotator cuff early in spring practice.

He had to have surgery and doctors thought he’d miss time this year, but he was cleared before fall practice and hasn’t missed a beat – despite spraining his left shoulder earlier this year and spraining his ankle two weeks ago.

“I’ve never missed a game,” Adams said. “I’m spending two or three hours a day in the training room getting treatment, but I’ve always came back.”

Adams came to Troy from Freeport, Fla., turning down an offer from Central Florida to walk-on at Troy. He walked on in the same class as linebacker Bear Woods, kicker Sam Glusman, running back Nate Nolin and tight end Travis Boyd, and like all of them, earned a starting spot.

Potter had started 12 games in 2007 as a junior, but it was Adams who beat him out last fall. Adams also started three games at center for Franks.

“I felt like through the course of the spring and as we got into the season that he had earned the opportunity to start the (first) game,” offensive line coach John Schlarman said. “He went in there and did a great job and never looked back.”

Offensive coordinator Neal Brown said Adams’ improvement from early in his days as a starter to now has been drastic.

“There’s no question he’s worked hard,” Brown said. “A couple of things for him is that No. 1, he’s played with more confidence. The second thing is he used to have really negative plays. He would play good but his negative play would be sacks or he’d miss on the point of attack on a run play and we’d lose seven or eight yards. It was just things that would kill you.

“He’s eliminated those negative plays. That’s been the biggest reason why he’s playing better.”