Vikings lose Adams for season due to knee injury

• 

  Kevin SeifertAug 16, 2026, 08:04 PM ET

  Close

  Kevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia.

Veteran defender Jamal Adams will miss the 2026 season because of a right knee injury he suffered Saturday in the Minnesota Vikings' 13-10 preseason victory over the New York Giants, the NFL Network's Ian Rapaport reported Sunday.

Coach Kevin O'Connell had expressed concern about the injury during and after the game, saying that he was "crushed" for Adams and that "we're going to miss him."

Early testing didn't look good, O'Connell said, but the team wanted to wait until further imaging took place Sunday before making a definitive projection about Adams' absence.

The injury occurred early in the second quarter when Adams stumbled in pass coverage with no contact and fell to the turf at MetLife Stadium. He rolled over and grabbed his right knee, and eventually he was carted from the sideline to the locker room.

The Vikings signed Adams, 30, on the eve of training camp in part because of his familiarity with general manager Nolan Teasley when both were members of the Seattle Seahawks.

Drafted as a safety by the New York Jets in 2017, Adams moved to linebacker last season with the Las Vegas Raiders and initially worked there with the Vikings as well. After a week of training camp, however, the Vikings changed his number from 54 to 32 and began using him at safety.

Adams had received heavy first-team reps during practice in the Vikings' three-safety packages, and was playing with the second team defense Saturday when the injury occurred.

Injuries have plagued Adams for much of the second half of his career. He played only one game in 2022, nine in 2023 and five in 2024 before making it through all 17 games with the Raiders as a part-time player last season.