Vikings fear worst as Jamal Adams, former All-Pro safety, suffers knee injury in preseason game: 'Not good'

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Jamal Adams' brief tenure with the Minnesota Vikings appears to have taken a devastating turn Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

The veteran safety, who signed with Minnesota just two weeks ago, suffered a knee injury during the first half of the Vikings' 13-10 victory over the New York Giants. The injury occurred when Adams, covering Giants receiver Calvin Austin III in the red zone, had to break across the field to handle a route and went down to the turf without contact. He was unable to put weight on the leg and was carted off the field, returning to the Vikings' locker room.

Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell addressed the injury during an in-game interview, offering a grim initial assessment.

"Not good," O'Connell said of the injury after seeing the first look at it.

The veteran coach expressed deep concern for his new player, noting how quickly Adams had become a valued member of the defensive unit.

"In such a short amount of time, Jamal has done such an unbelievable job coming here," O'Connell said. "You feel his passion every single day. Certainly felt it spending a few moments with him before they took him in. You're just crushed for him, the role he was kind of paving for himself, and then just having a personality, experience, toughness that he brought in such a short amount of time. We're going to miss him."

The 30-year-old Adams joined the Vikings on July 28, just before training camp commenced, with the understanding he would need to earn a roster spot heading into his tenth NFL season. Prior to joining Minnesota, Adams spent portions of the 2024 season with the Tennessee Titans and Detroit Lions before playing for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025. He made the transition from safety to linebacker last season, and the Vikings were planning to deploy him in a similar hybrid role.

The irony of Sunday's injury was not lost on those watching: Adams was back at MetLife Stadium, the same venue where he became one of the league's most dominant defensive players early in his career. The New York Jets selected Adams sixth overall in the 2017 NFL Draft out of Louisiana State University. During his time with the Jets, he developed into one of the league's premier safeties, earning Pro Bowl selections in 2018 and 2019. His 2019 campaign was particularly impressive, as he earned First Team All-Pro honors after recording 6.5 sacks, 75 tackles, two forced fumbles, one interception returned for a touchdown, and seven passes defensed across 14 games.

The Jets traded Adams to the Seattle Seahawks following that standout season, and he spent four years in the Pacific Northwest before his recent journeyman phase through the league's middle tier.

Up until the injury, Adams had been making an impact in his brief time with the Vikings, according to O'Connell's remarks.

Adams will undergo further medical testing to determine the full extent of the injury. Non-contact knee injuries in professional sports typically raise concerns about potential damage to the anterior cruciate ligament or other structural issues that could require extended recovery time.